In Benja I Trust - A BajanCanadian Fanfiction
by Quiet Defiance
Summary: Lily is halfway through college and satisfied with her relative fame on Youtube. Mitch is the famous BajanCanadian who stumbles across her channel accidentally. Be it fate, destiny, or little siblings and mischievous friends that brings them together, one thing is certain: their lives will never be the same. Rated T for references and language.
1. Welcome to GracefulGaming

CHAPTER ONE: Welcome to GracefulGaming

"THAT'S IT! I'M DONE! THIS IS POOP! GARY YOU'RE WORTHLESS!" I shouted as a boss Sandslash took out my last Pokémon, a Venusaur (named Gary of course). "Well guys, looks like it's the end of another Pixelmon adventure. Let's go for 4,000 likes for that Sandslash whooping my booty. Remember, we love you! Jenna out, bizziatches." I finish my outro and stop the recording. Stretching back in my creaky desk chair, I glance at the old digital clock that got moved down here when my sister took over my room and I went off to college. 10:46 PM. Too late to do much of anything (my family are early sleepers), but too early to sleep. I decide to edit the video, cranking it out in 20 minutes. While it's uploading, I sit down on the floor and stretch. No point in just sitting in that beat-up old chair, especially when I've been doing exactly that for the past 3 hours, pre-recording for when my sister and I head to Minecon next week. Once I see that the video is up, I shut down the official gaming computer of the house and head upstairs, retreating to my room for the night.

I guess I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Lily, but to my just over 100k subs on Youtube I'm Jenna, or TheMajorOne. I run a channel called GracefulGaming with my younger sister, whose name is really Isabelle. For our fans, she goes by Grace or TheMinorOne. I am almost nineteen years old and halfway through college (Yes, you heard correctly, I am eighteen after my sophomore year of college. I'll explain it more when it becomes more important). I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. My sister and I are going to Minecon next week to hopefully meet some potential recording buddies and just see the sights. I've been obsessed with Minecraft since 1.2.5 and couldn't imagine a better way to raise money for college. I'm about 5'9" (1.75 meters for you metric people), have shoulder-length brown hair, and really bad eyesight (but you'll never know because I always wear contacts). My eyes are grayish-blue, and I have as many freckles as a ginger. I am a professional furniture detector (AKA I'm clumsy as hell), dingus (I have a tendency to forget the blatantly obvious), and fangirl (I don't think this really needs an explanation. Fangirls be fangirls.).

And this is the story of how I fell in love with Mitch Hughes.

-o0O0o-

*MITCH'S POV*

I could hear Connor laughing in the next room. I snuck up behind him with an ice cube in my hand ready to drop it down the back of his shirt. Unfortunately, he was lying down on the couch, so I just put the ice cube in my mouth instead.

"Whatcha watching?" I ask, the words coming out a little garbled because of the ice. Without giving him a chance to answer, I lie down on top of him, my back squishing him into the couch and pinning the iPod he was using as a screen in between us so he can't see it anymore.

"This channel I found called GracefulGaming," he answered, trying without much luck to push me off. "You should check them out. One of them has this really funny controlled obsession with you."

I grimace. A fangirl? No thanks. They're crazy. I thought it was bad before, and that was without the added hype of Team Crafted. Now they're practically inescapable.

"Controlled obsession you say?" I ask. It's not a term I've heard before, and controlled doesn't sound like a word that usually applies to fangirls.

"Yeah. She's like a fangirl, but not crazy. She obviously likes you, but isn't all possessive and creepy. Which is great because I'm really sick of hearing how much these twelve-year-olds would like to see you shirtless so they can-" I cut him off before he can go any farther. I already know what those twelve- and thirteen-year-old girls want to do with me and it's not pretty.

"Maybe I'll give it a looksiedoodles," I say, getting up off him and going into the basement. It's almost ten PM and I told Jerome we'd be prerecording for Minecon tonight.

"Check out her Pixelmon series if you do," he calls after me. "After all, she started it because of you." I make a noise somewhere between a grunt and an acknowledgement as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

Two hours later, I find myself with a bunch of Hunger Games videos ready to go and nothing else to do. I upload the first one and decide to check out the channel Connor was watching earlier. I shift over to the playlists and find the one titled "Jenna Plays Pixelmon." I click the first video.

"Hey internet! Jenna here with a new Let's Play series for y'all. I've wanted to try Pixelmon ever since I first saw BajanCanadian play it, and well, we all know how I feel about the Benj." Here, the video is intercut with clips from other series in black-and-white.

"DAMN YOU BAJANCANADIAN! I still love you though, o bootyful one," she says as I see myself murdering her in the Hunger Games. Come to think of it, I vaguely remember killing someone named TheMajorOne a couple weeks ago, only because the chat got spammed with 'mitch how dare you kill jenna' and 'mitch y u do dis she just wants to luv you' and 'mitch no she fan.'

"When dealing with a potential mate, one must ask a simple question: do they got the booty? If the answer is yes, then I ship it, my child. WELL BENJA DO YA GOT THE BOOTY? DO YA PUNK? Because if you want the booty but you ain't got the booty, then you all outta Bootytown. Anyways in conclusion, I like Benja and I like booty, and I really like benja's booty." I grinned, slightly confused by the booty rant but amused all the same.

"MITCH I DID IT FOR YOU ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" she yelled as she plummeted off a cliff. I could hear someone else laughing in the background. The death message popped up as she smacked the desk in frustration. 'TheMajorOne was doomed to fall by TheMinorOne.'

"BENJAAAAAAAAAA!" she said, jumping around and shifting and hitting random blocks in F5 mode. I stifled a laugh as the video shifted back into color.

"Yeah… I have made some pretty interesting choices in my past… Anyway let's begin! BULBASAUR I CHOOSE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH OTHERWISE!" Her ADHD style and quirky sense of humor keep me entertained. Before I know it, it's episode two, then three, then four and so on until I realize how late it is and head up to bed, resolving to finish the series tomorrow.

I guess I should tell you a little about myself. My name is Mitchell Hughes, but I go by Mitch. To my 3 million + subs on Youtube I'm BajanCanadian, or just Benja. I turned 20 almost 6 months ago, in March. I grew up in Barbados, America, and Canada. I have brown hair and brown eyes. I'm heading to Minecon next week with Team Crafted. There are people I have never met who seem to know more about me than I do myself.

And this is the story of how I fell in love with one of them.

-o0O0o-

**HELLA LONG A/N: Hi everyone! QD here. I'm trying something I've never seen done before in a fanfic, which is basing OC's off people I know personally. Every OC in this story is a real person, albeit with a different name. I will have to change some things, however, so in every A/N I will have a Fact/Fiction section for facts that seem a little out of the ordinary and for things I had to make up or fudge a little. That being said here are the facts for this chapter:**

**Because I'm a fangirl, I based the main character off myself as I will be 3 ½ years from now. I described myself accurately, including the fact that I will be really young in college. Like I said, that will be explained later when it becomes relevant.**

**GracefulGaming doesn't exist, but it might in the future so if I start it up y'all will be the first to know.**

**This story starts one week before Minecon 2014, which I will unfortunately not be attending.**

**If I could figure out how to correctly download Pixelmon, I would most definitely pick Bulbasaur as my starter and name it Gary.**

**I really am a reserved fangirl, because twelve-year-olds be cray (sorry if I just offended someone).**

**Now here are the fictions:**

**Mitch would probably never do half the shiazzz I'm gonna have him say, do or think.**

**I don't actually know more about Mitch than he does because I decided stalking him for the sake of accurately portraying his character was going too far.**

**So yeah! Welcome to my Benja fic. I hope you enjoy it because I sure liked writing it. If it's not too much trouble please leave a review because I love hearing feedback from all of you beautiful individuals.**

**Now about my HP fic…**

** I lost interest. If you like Harry Potter, feel free to check out my other story, Granger and the Slytherin Princess. If I get some more reviews and whatnot, I might start it back up. I'm going to set up a poll and I won't close it until I have at least twenty-seven votes or after three weeks, whichever comes last. So yay, self-promotion, blah blah blah, we move on.**

**Thank you fellow doods for reading this and reading this whole hella long A/N. Remember, I love you! Also, if you can think of a better title, let me know because I don't really like the one I have now.**

**-Quiet Defiance**

_**If you see this comment mitch's booty**_


	2. Letters 4 DAYZ

CHAPTER TWO: Letters for DAYZ

"Hey Grace, I did you a favor and finished your remodeling," I said, grinning evilly. My sister and I were recording a ton of episodes of Mischief & Management. This was a series I had come up with in which one of us did a typical Let's Play on survival mode while the other was in creative. The rules were simple: no griefing of structures was allowed (excluding replacement; as long as no blocks were lost, any structural changes were fine), no stealing (but giving, say, enough 64-stacks of poisoned potatoes to fill an entire double chest was fine), and no direct murder (but clever cliff or lava traps were fine―not TNT though because that counts as griefing). In this particular episode, she had been remodeling her house into all brick when she ran out of clay. Thus, I decided to continue the renovations and be helpful.

By replacing the brick with gravel.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the mischief and she's the management.

She groaned. "It's gravel, isn't it?" she said. I stifled a giggle.

"Maybe."

"That's my least favorite thing and you know it," she said, her tone accusatory.

"At least it's better than that time we were both playing on survival and I spelled out_ BENJA'S_ _BOOTY_ on top of our hoose," I replied. And yes, I said hoose, not house. Pronounced like moose, it's just something we say, like Jerome and Mitch say strongk instead of strong.

" Yeah, I guess. You and your controlled obsession. Well guys, it looks like we'll have to wait until next episode to see exactly how bootyful my hoose is. Let's go for 3,286 likes for gravel being uglier than a baby kangaroo. Remember, we love you! Grace out, homies." Isabelle wrapped up our episode, the 5th one we'd recorded. We had about 5 more to go, because we were recording not only for Minecon but for when I went back to college. My sister would then take on the main responsibility of recording, with me only putting out flash games until I came back around Halloween.

I should probably explain some stuff about my sister. She's only 2 ½ years younger than I am, but she's going into her junior year of high school where I'm going into my junior year of college. She looks somewhat like me but not as much as most siblings. She's still shorter than me (thank the LAWD) but only an inch and a half. Her boyfriend Ryan is really nice, even though she didn't tell me about him for two months. She runs our social media (except for Tumblr, because I love Tumblr more than anyone else I know). We get along really well and always have.

Anyway. Back to the story.

"D'you want any food? I'm going upstairs," she asks, standing up. We record sitting next to each other and using one mic, simply because it's easier and cheaper (don't need two expensive mics). We never put out a video with both our perspectives anyway, so it's not a problem. Whoever isn't recording uses my laptop.

"Yeah, can you bring me down some pretzels?" I ask. I have a habit of consuming large portions of 4-pound pretzel bags while we record (because I am an om-nom-nom-nivore).

"Sure. Be right back."

I pull up Youtube as she leaves the room. In our tradition, she flicks the light on and off as she passes. I click over to our page and notice that we have about 1,000 more subs than we did an hour ago when I last checked. What? 1k subs in an hour? HOLY POOP NUGGETS! That's a lot! I refresh the page. Our sub count is still rocketing up at an alarming rate. I sit there, dumbfounded, for a little bit longer before just dismissing it as a technical fluke. I close out the window and pull up Youtube on my iPod instead. For some reason, it doesn't feel like I've watched a video until I do it on mobile. I'm just weird that way. I navigate to Mitch's channel and the Activity tab pops up automatically. I am .0006254 seconds from switching to the Videos tab when a familiar icon catches my eye.

A very familiar icon indeed, accompanied by the phrase, '_TheBajanCanadian subscribed to GracefulGaming.'_

Well that explains the huge jump in subs. I guess all his subscribers saw that he subbed to me and checked out our channel. I guess that meant we're cool.

Now the fangirl comes crashing in from above.

OH MY COW UDDERS SPEWING STRAWBERRY MILK IN RAINBOW FORM. MITCH SUBBED TO US. This means a couple things. First, he thinks we're cool enough to subscribe to.

Second, he for sure knows about my controlled (ish) obsession. Po-ep. Das awkward.

Oh well. Not like it was a secret in the first place.

But still though.

Crap.

-o0O0o-

*MITCH'S POV*

_Dear GracefulGaming,_

_Hi. I just wanted to say that your channel is really cool and I'm definitely subscribing. I'd love to do something like Mischief and Management, if that's OK with you. Maybe we can brainstorm sometime. Hope to see you at Minecon!_

_-Mitch Hughes (BENJAAAAAAA)_

I read over the note one last time before hitting send. I closed out email and pulled up Youtube, noticing that they'd put up a new video. It was an IRL video, talking about Minecon. For the first time, I saw the girl who was famous for fangirling over me.

She had brown hair that came down to her shoulders. Her stormy blue eyes seemed to pierce mine, even though she was just an arrangement of pixels on a screen. Her pale skin was dotted with freckles, and she sat slightly taller than her sister. Grace had longer hair, fewer freckles, and was wearing a Thing Two shirt whereas Jenna was wearing Thing One.

Neither of them were pretty, per se, but they definitely weren't ugly. More like unconventional. Yeah, that's it. Atypical, but not gross.

"Hey internet! Jenna and Grace here, and welcome to the realm of this IRL-y-ness! We thought that you guys might like to see our faces before Minecon so that you know who to look for if you want things signed. So here we are! There's not really much other purpose to this video. We're hoping to see you guys there and are looking forward to meeting y'all. I guess we can play you some pano…but after Grace says her things!" She swung her head overdramatically to look at Grace, who was rolling her eyes.

"Just FYI, guys, we're pretty tall. Jenna's five nine, and I'm five seven and a half, so if you're looking for short girls with GracefulGaming shirts to sign yo thangs you're gonna be USC."

"AND NOW WE PANO!" Jenna said. The video cut to them playing a piano duet. The music was light and energetic, fitting for their personalities. The song ended and they swiveled around on the bench to face the camera.

"Remember, we love ya! Peace out, dudes." The video faded to black.

I didn't notice that the email failed to send until the next morning, but by then it was too late. We had to leave for Minecon.

**WOOOOOT A/N TIME: Hey doods! QD here. I forgot to mention a few things last time. First of all, this story will not be updated daily. I am honestly surprised I managed to update today at all. I'll try to get new chapters up as soon as possibru, but the only promise I'll make is no longer than *ten days*. Secondly, each chapter will have Lily's and Mitch's perspectives, but they will cover one time period from two different perspectives (if that makes any sense). Now that that's covered, time for this chapter's facts! YAY!**

**My sister: she is two and half years younger than me, but she is also 3 ½ years in the future in this story. She does have a boyfriend, which she didn't tell me about for two months (NOT COOL!) Unfortunately, they have broken up since I first wrote this chapter, but he will remain in this story because it's convenient for me.**

**I do actually say hoose and pano, but only as a joke.**

**I once ate 2/3 of a 4-pound bag of pretzels in about two hours during a set strike for a musical revue I was in.**

**I really do love Tumblr. Like a lot. (HMU at i-wear-clothes , I post the lovely thoughts from my insane brain)**

**USC stands for **_**up shit creek.**_

**The "crazy bisssshhhh" thing is supposed to be a reference to something Lily calls herself in the videos.**

**AND NOW ZE FICTIONS**

**My sister is more than 1 ½ inches shorter than me (THANK THE LAWD).**

**I don't have a laptop.**

**I think that's it for this chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I loved hearing your feedback. You guys are awesome motivators. Keep it up, you beautiful individuals!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

_**If you see this comment she dooooo**_


	3. Le Hotel

CHAPTER THREE: Le Hotel (technically it's l'hôtel, but this is the internet so it doesn't matter)

Everything was overwhelming. There were huge skylights four stories up letting in the bright afternoon light. I glanced over at Belle, who had also stopped to take it in. Elegant marble pillars rose up to meet the three balconies that ringed three sides of the rectangular atrium. Our suitcase wheels clicked on the smooth black floor as we maneuvered our way to the front desk. This was, without a doubt, the nicest hotel we'd ever been in.

After waiting in a line for a surprisingly short time, the clerk handed us our room keys. We walked over to the very shiny elevators. Once inside, we turned to each other. I could see my reflection in the mirrored wall behind Belle's head, reminding me I wore my glasses today.

"This is-" I begin.

"Wow," Belle finishes.

"It's really-"

"Majestic."  
>"I was gonna say shiny, but that too."<p>

"Yes yes, vair shiny, vair nice, vair class."

"Yeah."

"I just-"

"Me too." We ride in silence the rest of the way to the 5th floor. I am somewhat afraid of heights, but still like a view, so we decided that the 5th floor was good. We head to the room (#5102) where it takes a couple tries to get the door to open. When we finally get the key to work, we pull our suitcases in and shut the door behind us before taking a closer look at our living quarters for the next four days.

A desk area with a very squishy-looking office chair is pushed up behind a black couch. A decent-sized flatscreen (with DVD player! Yeah buddy!) faces the whole area off to our left. A kitchenette with a microwave and minifridge sits off to our right. A polished wooden door leads into a room with two double beds (we couldn't afford anything bigger, but who really needs a queen bed all to themselves?). Four huge, fluffy pillows sit on each of the red comforters. Another equally decent flatscreen sits on a small dresser next to a small bathroom area.

Simultaneously, we heft our suitcases on a bed. I take the one closest to the door; Belle takes the one nearer to the window. I start unpacking our clothes and putting them underneath the TV. Belle brings the Poptarts, Easy Macs, and, of course, pretzels to the kitchenette. We knew that our clothes would fit in only one suitcase, so we decided to fill the other one with snacks, movies, a camera and other essentials. Once our stuff is thoroughly stowed away, we decide to make some mac & cheese and watch a movie during dinner. After much debate, we go with _Thor_, because we're both Avengers geeks. We brought a whole stash of Marvel movies, along with a few essentials like _Burlesque, Frozen, _and _Sherlock Holmes. _We were pretty stacked to say the least.

When _Thor _ends, we watch _Untold Stories of the ER _until we fall asleep.

-o0O0o-

***MITCHS POV***

Connor bounces up and down excitedly when we finally step out of the revolving doors. He insisted going around thirteen times, for whatever reason, so I'm a little dizzy when we step into the atrium. I can understand why Connor is so excited. Big, bright, and marble everywhere, it's the nicest hotel he's ever been in. I've been in some equally as nice, but not quite so… grand. The others were more modern, while this one is old-world majestic. I walk up to the check-in line, while Connor runs off to explore the lobby. A couple minutes later, he comes back.

"Dood – I think GracefulGaming is here." He says, looking back and forth between me and the elevators excitedly. I raise my eyebrows suspiciously.

"Really?" I ask. He's been known to misspot things when he's overly excited, which led to quite a few wrongs turns on the way here. Note to self: don't let the younger one read the directions next time. We'll probably get where we're going on time instead of two hours late.

"Yeah. Two girls with brown hair were just getting in an elevator when I was over there, and one of them looked just like Grace. The other one could have been Jenna, but she had glasses on, so I don't know." I make a sound of acknowledgement that edges on a grunt and step up to the desk to get our room keys. We take the elevator up to the eighth floor (room #8102) and get the door open after only a couple tries.

Our room is pretty simple, no frills. Just a living area, kitchenette and a separate bedroom area. Connor claims the bed by the window and I take the one nearer to the door. We stay in the rest of the night watching movies, playing games on my laptop, and planning out the next few days.

**A/N TIME! YAY! : Hey doods! QD here. Some stuff has come up, so it look like I'm going to have to extend my promise to ten days. Also, I'll be editing Chapter Two soon, so keep an eye out for that. Also check out my poll pls! PLZ PLZ PLZ! Anyho, thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorite, etc. because I love it A LOOOOOOTTTTT. Keep it up you bootyful individuals! I think I'm going to keep this title. It's grown on me. AND NOW ZE FACTS!**

**I am afraid of heights.**

**My sister and I often say "vair nice, vair class."**

**The movies I listed are definitely essentials on my list.**

**Untold Stories of the ER is one of my favorite shows.**

**UND ZE FICTIONS:**

**I don't know where Minecon 2014 is, or how long it will go on, so we're not going to list a specific city and we're gonna say it's 4 days long.**

**The hotel I described doesn't exist (as far as I know). It came from my head. Yep.**

**I think that covers everything! Also, if y'all haven't figured it out yet, this is gonna be long. Like REALLY long. It's been three chapters and they haven't even met. There is even a possibility of a sequel (!). so yeah. I wuv you guys!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

_**If you see this comment too strongk**_


	4. Day One

"Make good choices!" I call after her jokingly. She turns back and sticks her tongue out at me before continuing on her way. Belle and I decided to split up and explore during the morning, then meet up for lunch and stick together for the afternoon. I pull up the hood on my endearment hoodie, hoping no fans will recognize me. It would be kinda awkward if a fan wanted, like, an autograph or something and only one of us was there to sign. We're not really big enough to get our own booth or anything like that, but we're cruising in on 500k now, thanks to Mitch.

I still can't believe he subbed to us. I mean, it's only been like two days, but that's equivalent to forever on the internet. We're just a couple of small-town girls playing video games; he's a superfamous member of the Youtube gaming community. That's pretty frick-frackin' cool that he found us. Not to mention that he just happens to be the object of my fangirlyness.

I weave my way in between the sea of people in the convention center, just trying to go with the flow. I stop once or twice at displays that catch my eye, but in general I just keep moving. After an hour or two of wandering, I pull off to the side. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I text Belle to see if she's ready to go. She doesn't text me back right away, I decide to just camp where I a am until she does. My mind is wandering, thinking about our plans for the next week. My thoughts are just straying to college when someone walks up to me.

It's a boy who looks to be about a year or so younger than Belle. I can just barely see over his dark brown hair. His facial features are surprisingly familiar, even though I'm positive I've never seen before. I push away the feeling of déjà vu and concentrate on what he's saying.

"You're Jenna from GracefulGaming, right?" he asks expectantly. He bounces up and down energetically, and I can't help but smile.

"Yep," I reply. "You're the first person to recognize me." He holds out one of our posters, an older design that we don't sell anymore. I'm impressed. That shiz is VINTAGE (almost), and mounted on cardboard no less.

"Will you sign this? Pretty please?" he asks excitedly. A sharpie is already in my hand, and I uncap it as I reply.

"Of course!" I say. "Who should I make it out to?" I touch the edge of the cardboard to steady it.

"Connor," he replies. Suddenly, something clicks, and I realize why he's familiar. It's Mitch's brother.

_Holy poop nuggets, _I think. I can't stop seeing it now: the high cheekbones, how one side of his mouth smiles more than the other. He looks hella lot like Mitch.

"_To Connor," _I narrate, "_You are literally number one. High fives, Jenna." _I cap the marker and try to remain calm on the outside. I'm getting nervous now, for no good reason. Boys I like make me hella nervous, and their immediate family is no exception. I steel my nerves and resolve not to stutter.

"You're Mitch's brother, aren't you?" I ask, attempting to be casual.

"Yeah, that's me," he replies, deflating slightly. I scramble for a way to rectify the situation.

"Cool," I say. "If you're still in the convention center at 3:30, you can meet Grace and me by the mooshroom pen and she can sign your poster too. Special privileges for the first fan to recognize one of us ever in the history of our channel." I smile at him and he reinflates, becoming excited again.

"Really?" He starts to bounce.

"Really." I smile again. His happy-go-lucky demeanor puts me at ease. "Props on the poster, by the way. That design was always one of my favorites."

He grins widely. "Thanks." Just then my phone buzzes.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you later, alright?"

"3:30 by the LSD cows?" he says. I laugh.

"You got it. Bye, Connor."

"Bye!" He almost literally hops off.

I walk in the opposite direction, checking my text from Belle. She wants to go outside to Subway for lunch, so I head toward the exit. I don't think I did too badly for my first encounter with a fan. Hell, I even managed to get my fangirl side under control after I found out he was Mitch's brother. And who knows? He might even bring Mitch when we meet up.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

My second sharpie is already almost dead, and it's only noon. I have half an hour until I can eat lunch. Only thirty more minutes of fangirl after fangirl after fangirl. Connor should be back by then, and he'll be dying to tell me all about the booths and other things he's seen. Fourteen hysterical tweenagers later, a more familiar face steps up. I don't know why I know her, but I definitely do.

"I'm Belle," she says before I can ask who to make it out to. It's like I've met her before, but that's impossible. I don't know anyone named Belle. It doesn't really click until I find myself writing _Grace _instead of _Belle _on the poster she hands me.

"Oh poopsiedoodles, I'm sorry," I say. She smiles.

"It's okay, Grace is fine. Li―er, Jenna told me you'd subscribed, but I didn't think you'd recognize me," she says. She seems really normal after the just over two hours of insanity I've dealt with so far. Unfortunately, the rest of the insanity is starting to get impatient. I have to wrap this up.

"_Your channel is dope! Love, Benja," _I narrate as I write. I hand the poster back to her just as her phone goes off in her pocket.

"D'you want me to sign something for Jenna too?" I ask. She smiles and shakes her head.

"Nah. If she really wants something, she'll get it herself." I smile at that.

"Alright, well, take care," I say.

"Thanks dood. You too," she replies. She turns around and walks away, while I prepare to descend back into Crazytown. I do love my fans, don't get me wrong. They can just be a little… overly enthusiastic sometimes. Most of the time.

Anyway, about twenty long minutes later, Jerome (who was also signing stuff) and I close up shop. We meet Connor and Louise, Jerome's girlfriend, at a small café near the entrance to the convention center. After buying our lunches, we hunt out a place to sit. Every table is full, so we find a bench and plop down, four in a row. We all fit somehow.

"Hey Mitch, you'll never guess who I ran into about twenty minutes ago," Connor says.

"I ran into someone too," I answer. "You can go first."

"I found Jenna from GracefulGaming," he says. I stare at him.

"No way."

"Yep. She signed my poster. See?" He holds it up for me to examine. Sure enough, there's her signature.

"Literally number one?" I ask.

"Yeah. She said I was the first fan to recognize her. Grace wasn't there though."

"I know," I say, purposely throwing him for a loop.

"Huh?" he says, confused.

"I know Grace wasn't there, because I ran into her at about the same time," I answer.

"She got something signed?"

"Yup. Not for Jenna, though."

"Oh. Well, Jenna said they'd meet me by the mooshroom pen at 3:30 so Grace could sign my poster too."

"Maybe I'll come with you," I say. Why not? It'll be fun to meet someone who got famous by being my fangirl.

Maybe. Hopefully she's not crazy. Her sister seemed normal enough.

"You should," he replies.

"Then I will." Who knows? I might even have fun.

**A/N TIME! OR SHOULD I SAY PARTY TIME BECAUSE THEY'RE THE SAME! YEAH! ANYWAY: Hey doods! Das ist QD, and I don't speak German. I edited Chapter Two because I wasn't comfortable with how I did it, so check that out because it contains a beautiful phrase that I will absolutely have to use again. I also took the grammatical problems out of Chapter Three (yay). Anywhore, here are the facts for this chapter:**

**I love sharpies. Like, a lot.**

**LSD cows is supposed to be a reference to something the girls say in their videos.**

**My family loves to tell each other to "make good choices" in honor of the terrible movie Freaky Friday.**

**Louise is in the story so that there are no possible other romantic options for Belle than her boyfriend. Connor will just be a friend and partner in crime. This will make more sense later. [Insert evil author smile]**

**And then the fictions:**

**I don't own an enderman hoodie, unfortunately. I do have Captain America socks with wings attached, which is almost as good.**

**My sister would never willingly choose to eat at Subway.**

**I think that covers everything. Oh! I know. FUN FACT: if GracefulGaming had over 500k subs, they would have about 31.25 times the population of my hometown as a fanbase. Wow. Keep up the reviewing, following, etc. because it makes my heart smile. I wuv you, beautiful individuals!**

**-Quiet Defiance**


	5. Social Skills FTW

CHAPTER FIVE: Social Skills FTW

I try not to swear in front of my sister. Most of the time, I do pretty well. Right now, I was failing miserably.

"Ssssssshhhhhhhit," I say. I look over in Connor's direction and managed a smile. The excited teenager was being followed by a much more familiar face in a yellow and gray hoodie.

I prepared myself mentally for a whole lot of stuttering, mumbling, blushing, and general self-embarrassment.

"Hey Connor!" I said as they got up to us. "This is-"

"Grace." He cuts me off and holds out his poster to her. I laugh and let them get on with it. Taking a deep breath (mentally, not literally), I turn to face Mitch. I extended my hand for a handshake.

"And you are?" I say, somehow managing to keep a straight face. He looks at me, extremely confused. I laugh, trying to sound less nervous than I actually am.

"Kidding! Hi, I'm Jenna," I say, managing not to stutter. He smiles and wraps his hand around mine. His grip is warm and strong. I withdraw my hand before the handshake becomes awkward. I'm concentrating so hard on not being awkward that I almost don't catch his reply.

"I'm Mitch," he says, still grinning.

"I know," I reply. This brought out a small laugh. Yes! I was succeeding! Finally conquering my awkwardness! Of course, now that I've realized I'm doing well, I'm gonna mess it up.

"No kidding," he says. "I was kinda worried when Connor said you were a fangirl, but you're not screaming yet, so I think we're good."

I smile. "Yeah, I try to keep the screaming to a minimum when I'm meeting celebrities and stuff. Can't have famous people thinking I'm unstable or anything."

"You're getting up there yourself, y'know," he replies.

"I guess… we were around 500k last I checked," I say.

"Das Gucci," he replies. I smile.

"I should probably definitely thank you for that. It would have taken us a really long time to get there without you subscribing," I say. He smiles.

"No problem," he says. "I was actually planning to email you before the convention started, but I kinda forgot. I was gonna ask you if I could maybe do something like Mischief and Management."

"Dude, omigod, of course," I reply, grinning from ear to ear. Mitch liked one of my ideas! YUSSS!

"Sweet deal. I didn't want to, like, steal your idea or anything," he says.

"Nah, it's fine. Not like I patented it or anything."

Just as he was about to reply, we were interrupted by Belle.

"If you two are done flirting, Connor was telling me about some really cool booths, so we're gonna go look at those if y'all wanna come," she says. At the word _flirting,_ I can feel my cheeks heating up. I'm just glad my hair hides how red my ears are right now.

"I wasn't – I mean, uh – I didn't mean to – um – yeah, I'll come along," I stutter out.

Well, I almost made it. Oh well. I didn't expect my social skills to remain intact for even as long as they did anyway, so I'll take what I can get.

Mitch elects to come too, so the four of us set off with Connor and Belle in the front and Mitch and I in the back of our little pack.

And just like that, I find myself walking and talking with BajanCanadian.

THE BajanCanadian.

Ssssssshhhhhhhit.

-o0O0o-

MITCH'S POV

She's only a couple inches shorter than me, which was kinda weird. I was used to being the tallest, or at least close to it. I see the moment of panic on her face at the sight of me. Sighing inwardly, I start to get ready for her to be just another crazy fangirl. We get within speaking distance, and she calls out to Connor instead of me.

Wow. Okay. Definitely not a crazy fangirl or she'd be drooling by now.

"And you are?" she asks, extending her hand to me.

What? Her fame is practically based off her being my fangirl. Either this is not Jenna, or she's really good at poker faces. Just as I'm realizing she's pranking me, she smiles and tells me she's kidding. I smile back and shake her hand. Her palms are warm and her fingertips are cold, which feels really weird. Her grip is firm though, which kinda makes up for it. Limp-handed handshakes are the worst. It's like holding a dead fish. Gross.

"I'm Mitch," I reply as she lets go of my hand. I'm glad she doesn't drag it out. That would just be creepy. Long, drawn-out handshakes are right up there with the dead fish.

"I know," she says. I laugh. I tell her I was worried about her being just another part of the insanity and she makes a joke about being unstable, just like she does in her videos. This is so weird, meeting a girl I've watched fangirl over me act totally normal. It's unexpected.

I like it.

She gives me permission to do my own M&M series, which is cool. I'll ask her about brainstorming later, if I get the chance. Soon, though, we're interrupted by Grace. She teases us about flirting. I laugh and take it in stride, but I can see that Jenna is blushing.

Not as calm as I thought.

Still though, that's some pretty good self-control if it took her this long to be at all fangirly.

I decide to come along and the four of us set off in a little pack, Connor and Grace in front and Jenna and me in the back. She gets her blushing under control as we set off.

As we walk, she gets noticeably more comfortable talking with me. We start to branch off into other topics besides Minecraft and YouTube. When we reach the first booth, we're talking about movies, Marvel in particular.

"What's your favorite Avengers movie?" I ask her. She gives it a moment.

"Is all of them a valid answer?" she asks. I smile and tell her no.

"Well, then, _Thor _I guess," she says. "We just watched it last night so it's still in my mind."  
>"Nice," I reply. "I've seen the first one but not the second one."<p>

She stares at me and I get my first good look into her eyes. They're stormy blue, with flecks of yellow around the edges. There's a small patch of brown in her left iris. Her reply pulls me out of her eyes and back into reality.

"Are you serious? 'Cause we have the second one up in our room, if you wanted to come by later and borrow it," she offers.

"Really? Connor's been wanting to see it, so… if you really don't mind, I'd be down to take it off your hands for a night."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," she says, smiling. Just then my phone goes off. It's Jerome, wanting to know where I am because we're reopening the signing booth in five minutes.

"Gucci, " I say. "I gotta run, but I'll drop by your room at about 9:30-ish, okay?" I tap Connor on the shoulder, letting him know it's time to go.

"Room 5102," she replies. "Be there or be square and without _Thor 2._" She says.

I smile at her and walk away with Connor tagging along.

I think I might have even had fun.

**A/N TIME! WOOP WOOP! : Hai doods! QD here with an update (FINALLY!). Sorry this took so long, but a new semester just started at school, so homework picked up. Plus, my school play is getting into full swing, AND I've been busy making TC fanart (including a cover for this story. YAY.), so… this just kinda never happened. Yeah. I'm really sorry, but it might happen again, so just be warned. Anyway, now that I'm done apologizing for being a dingus, here are the facts for this chapter:**

**When I get nervous, I stutter and mumble really badly. I also tend to make really bad jokes that barely work even in my mind when I'm out of my comfort zone.**

**I don't swear in front of my sister. EVER.**

**Dead fish handshakes are gross. Like really. If you do it, stop because IS YOU A WUSS**

**There a bit of brown in my left eye, but only the left one.**

**They're not gonna fall in love at first [Insert evil author smile]**

**AND ZE FICTIONS:**

**I'm pretty sure Thor 2 isn't out on DVD yet. Sadness.**

**There is no way I'd be able to my fangirlyness that far buried. No way at all.**

**Anyway, hope you doods enjoyed this chapter! I'll update again as soon as I can. Unfortunately, we're coming to the end of where I planned things, so… that's a thing. Also, I made a pen doodle of the Mudkip on my arm and posted a pic on tumblr, and QUENTIN REBLOGGED IT. That was easily the best part of my Monday. Anyslut, keep reviewing and stuff because I love you beautiful individuals and your feedback! Keep on being beautiful and I will write you later.**

**-Quiet Defiance**

_**If you see this comment attack of the fangirl**_


	6. Movie Night

CHAPTER SIX: Movie Night

I don't know how I managed to forget that I made Mitch a promise, but somehow I did. I only remembered when I heard a knock on our door around 9:35. I opened the door to find Connor bouncing up and down in the hallway.

"Hey, Connor! Come on in," I said. I held the door open and he walked in just far enough for me to shut it behind him. Belle got up off the couch and made eye contact with me. I shook my head slightly, telling her that we were still using our internet names. As nice as Connor was, he might accidentally let our real names slip and neither of us could afford to be stalked.

"Hey Connor!" she said. She struck up a conversation with him about the movie. I went into the bedroom to look for the movie. I finally found it under Belle's sweatshirt on the small dresser and headed back into the living space.

"Yeah, we actually just watched the first one last night," she said as I passed through the door.

"You're sure you don't mind giving it up then?" he asked hesitantly.

"Nah, it's fine," I say, holding out the DVD. He doesn't take it.

"Would you guys maybe want to watch it with us?" he offers. He starts bouncing again. I don't want to refuse him, but I also don't want to make Mitch uncomfortable. I know I would hate spending almost three hours with someone who is constantly fangirling (or fanboy-ing, as the case may be) over me. I mean, awkward much?

Problem is, I really want to say yes.

"Are you sure Mitch wouldn't mind?" I ask. I can feel my nervousness coming back.

"I can text him to make sure, but it'll probably be fine," he replies. He pulls out his phone and types out a quick message. I try not to sound too eager when I reply.

"Alright then, sure," I say. His phone buzzes. He says that it's from Mitch, and that he said okay. I know that you should quit while you're ahead, but I can't resist saying one more thing.

"Do you wanna just stay here? I mean, the three of us are already here, and we have snacks and stuff," I offer. I cross my fingers mentally, hoping that I didn't just screw up majorly.

See, it's funny because my Minecraft name is TheMajorOne and I said majorly and―

Anyway. Moving on.

He grins widely. "Sounds awesome!" he says. He pulls out his phone again. "I'll tell Mitch."

"Coolness," I reply. I go over to the kitchen cabinet and pull out the pretzels and stuff. Belle starts up the conversation again and I smile to myself. She got lucky in the social skills area. She and my mom both can just naturally converse with anyone they meet. Apparently, this particular trait skipped over me because I am super quiet and awkward when I first meet people.

Connor's phone buzzes, jolting me back to reality. He says that Mitch will be down in a few minutes and that he's bringing more snacks.

I prepare to spend several hours subduing awkwardness and accidentally eating my feelings. I just hope they don't mind people talking during movies. I can't not (double negative alert!) comment on whatever movies I'm watching, whether to comment on the lack of adherence to science or to spout random facts about the time period or something stupid like that.

Unfortunately, suppressing my natural tendencies isn't exactly my strong suit.

I start to worry more, inching my way out of 'broken smolder' into 'articulation' on the panic scale. Just then, there's a knock at the door, and I'm out of time to think.

I guess I'll make like Nike and just do it.

I open the door.

-oO0Oo-

**MITCH'S POV**

My phone buzzed about five minutes after Connor left the room. This is the only night I set aside for Connor, so if it's business-related I'm gonna be kinda annoyed. I do love my brother, no matter how much I'm a douchebag to him. Luckily, though, it's from Connor.

_Hey do u mind if the girls watch the movie with us?_

I replied no. I looked around our room. If they were gonna come over, I need to clean up. The room was kind of a complete mess. I got up off the couch and start collecting the clothes from their various place around the outer room. Just as I'm leaning behind the TV, my phone buzzed again. I came up a little too quickly and smacked my head on the edge of the TV. Rubbing the spot, I opened up another text from Connor.

_They said we can just watch it in their room cause the three of us are already here and they have snacks and stuff. Is that ok?_

I texted him back, saying that it's fine and I'll bring some more snacks down. I grabbed a few cereal boxes from our little hoard and head out the door, making sure to grab both room keys. I padded down the hall in my socks and pressed the button for the fifth floor when I got into the elevator. I found their door, number 5102, and knocked. Jenna opened it with a smile.

"Hey dood! Come on in!" she said, stepping back so I can step through the entryway. I smiled and said hi to Grace as I walked over to set the cereal boxes on the table with the rest of the snacks. The movie is already in the player and the previews are going. I hear the microwave beep and Jenna pulls out a bag of popcorn.

"You guys are stacked," I say, surveying everything. There are pretzels, poptarts, fresh popcorn, and an entire gallon of chocolate milk. The girls smile, and the four of us plop on the couch. Grace is on the left end, with Connor sandwiched between her and Jenna. I'm on the right end. It's not a large couch, and Jenna flinches slightly when our hips touch. She reaches over to the table and hits play on the remote, and the movie starts playing.

After a short while, Jenna relaxes. Eventually, almost the entire lengths of our thighs end up touching. She doesn't seem as nervous as when we met earlier, and keeps up an intermittent stream of funny little comments or interesting facts about the movie. About an hour in, she blurts out something totally random that takes everyone, including Grace, by surprise.

"My real name is Lily," she says. "I changed it so that I wouldn't get stalked. Sorry I didn't say anything before, but it just occurred to me now that I hadn't told you yet and stuff, so… surprise I guess." I took a second to process it.

It made complete sense. To be honest, I probably should have done the same thing. I've had bad enough experiences with crazy fangirls in the past that I sometimes wished I'd done a Seto and kept my name and appearance private. Come to think of it, I remembered Grace saying a different name when I first met her. I think it started with a B. As if on cue, Grace pipes up.

"My name is Isabelle," she says. "Please call me Belle though. I try to avoid Isabelle unless I'm in major trouble." I smile and nod. It might take a while to straighten out the names, but I'm just glad they can trust us enough to use their real names. Connor looks a little hurt, but he gets over it soon enough and we all go back to watching the movie.

Just when the couch is starting to feel cramped, Jenna – well, Lily, I guess – leans forward to grab another glass of chocolate milk. I take the opportunity to stretch and annoy my brother. I reach out and flick him just once before Lily settles back down.

Shit. My arm is still out. It's resting across the back of the couch just above Jenna's – CRAP, Lily's – head. I realize it's gonna get uncomfortable quickly.

"Oops, sorry," she says. She leans forward just enough for me to move my arm back down to where it was. Instead I plop it across her shoulders. Kinda weird, but my arms needed to be stretched out. Somehow, I didn't think Lily would mind. I still ask, though. She shakes her head and smiles.

"It's fine. It's only awkward if you make it awkward, right?" She turns her attention back to the movie, but I can feel how tense she is. I decide to just let it go and focus back on the movie. Eventually, she relaxes, even leaning into me slightly. I can tell she's holding back, and I'm grateful. I realize that if this were anyone else, she'd be all over me like white on rice.

By the end of the movie about 45 minutes later, her head is on my shoulder and my arm is curved around her, holding her in place. Connor is nodding off on Grace's – no, Belle's – shoulder, while she is dozing with her head supported by his. Lily (YES! FINALLY GOT IT!) gets up and takes out the movie. She puts it back in the drawer and then plops onto the floor, leaving the drawer open.

"I'd say let's put in another one, but half our audience seems to have lost consciousness," she says. I smile as I get and walk over to the other side of the drawer and sit down. I look into their stash, and pull out one I've never seen but always wanted to.

"How about Sherlock Holmes?" I ask. She nods.

"I'm down if you are. Belle never wants to watch that one anyway, so I guess it's a good thing she's passed out," she replies. I look over at the sleeping teens.

"Should we cover them up?" I ask. She nods, and disappears into the bedroom. I pop in the movie and sit back on the couch, careful not to jostle the siblings. Lily comes back in with two big red comforters piled in her arms. She lays one across them and sits back down, covering our laps up with the other. I drape my arm back around her and settle in for another two hours.

When the movie ends, it's getting close to three in the morning. Lily is asleep on my shoulder, her breathing deep and even. I take the opportunity to study her face.

Her brown hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and the heavy red glasses that she put on halfway through the last movie are balanced almost at the tip of her nose. She looks so peaceful that I don't want to move her.

Almost like I thought out loud, she wakes up. I quickly look away, pretending to study the comforter. She reaches out to the table and fumbles for the remote, shutting off the TV without ejecting the DVD. We get up and stretch, then turn to our sibling situation. She reaches out and pulls Belle into a standing hug before hoisting her up on her hips and carrying her into the bedroom. I rouse Connor in the meantime, not even attempting to pick him up. He's not as light as he used to be, and there is no way I'm carrying him all the way up to our room. Lily comes back out just he stands up.

"Thanks for coming, guys," she says, rubbing her eyes. We say goodbye and head out. She says she'll see us later as she shuts the door behind us.

When we finally get back and in bed, I realize that I just spent a night with a fangirl.

And she was normal. Ish.

My last thought before I fall asleep is that I wouldn't mind spending a lot more time with Jenna.

I mean, Lily.

I was doing so well with the name thing.

**A/N TIME! YEAH BUDDY! : Hey doods! QD here. I just wanted to say thank guys so much for reading! We're past a thousand views, which is crazy awesome. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I apologize for any grammar errors. This chapter was almost twice as long as normal, so YAY! Anyway, here are the facts for this chapter:**

**The social skills thing is totally true. My sister is popular and so was my mom, but I'm kind of a nerd. I mean, look at me, I'm writing fanfiction about a Minecraft YouTuber.**

**I tend to flinch away from physical contact if I'm nervous. Otherwise, I'm a very huggy person. INTERNET HUGS TO YOU ALL!**

**My glasses are thick, like Coke-bottle thick, with heavy red frames. They tend to slide down my face, so I'm constantly pushing them up.**

**I talk all the time during movies. I only fall asleep during them if I've seen them before and it's really late at night.**

**I think that about covers it, so now here's the fictions:**

**They're not going to be romantic right away. I know, I know, this is a BajanXLily fic technically, but I'm building up to something amazing that will come later. And when I say later, I mean like in-twenty-chapters later. [insert evil author smile]**

**I think that's everything! If you have any questions, send me a message or leave a review and I'll try to answer it. Speaking of which, thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorite, etc. I love you beautiful individuals! You guys are what keep me going, so don't stop! I will see you sexay doods later! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

_**If you see this comment #cantstopwontstop**_


	7. A Good Day

CHAPTER SEVEN:

The next morning when I wake up, the previous night doesn't feel quite real to me. It couldn't possibly be me who spent hours tucked up under BajanCanadian's arm. I'm just a fangirl. I'm surprised I managed to speak at all when he was around. My inner fangirl is not happy with being repressed.

Grace is in the next room. I can faintly hear the TV through the door. It's about 8:30, and I really need to get up. I do a not-so-little happy dance around the room.

I SPENT A NIGHT WITH BAJANCANADIAN! AAAAAAHHHH! THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME! OKAY MAYBE NOT, BEING BORN WAS PRETTY GREAT, BUT STILL! THIS WAS AMAZING! I'M SO HAPPY!

I can't stop the huge grin that spreads across my face. I hop and spin around the room until I lose control and bonk into the wall. Calming down, I open the door and step into the outer area. Belle says good morning as I walk over to the kitchenette. I say it back and pull out a package of poptarts. After breakfast, we change our clothes and clean up. We head down to the convention, with me hoping that I'd see him again today. I don't think I really need to specify who.

Unfortunately, I don't see him that day, or the next. I get recognized semi-frequently, but never enough to be mobbed (THANK THE LAWD). When I do see him again, it's almost at the end of the last day. Belle and I split up again to do whatever we wanted for an hour or so. I see him while I'm walking through the convention, checking out the booths one last time. He's with a few other members of Team Crafted, and Connor is nowhere to be seen. He waves at me, and I smile and wave back. I keep walking, fully expecting that to be the extent of our interaction. It's probably a good thing, because I know that being around the other members of Team Crafted wouldn't help the whole fangirl thing.

And by not help, I mean make it a thousand times more difficult.

Then he calls my name (internet name – nice of him to remember) and motions for me to come over. I do as he asks, becoming more anxious with every step. I try to smile, hoping that my eyes don't give away how nervous I am. When I get over to him, I'm practically shaking.

"Jenna, I'd like you to meet some people," he says, gesturing to Jerome and Ian. I extend my hand to each of them in turn. Their handshakes are sturdy and warm, and they help to put me at ease.

A little bit, anyway.

"So you're the girl Mitch has been going on about for the past two days," Jerome says. I giggle nervously and steal a glance at Mitch out of the corner of my eye.

"Was not," he says, punching Jerome lightly on the arm. I notice the slight tinge to his cheeks that gives him away as a liar. I start feeling all tingly and happy again, and have to try hard from smiling hugely.

"Dude, you so were," Ian says. I laugh again, but have no idea how to continue the conversation. Luckily, Ian starts talking to me about YouTube and I relax slightly. He is taller than me, which is nice. I hate towering over people.

Jerome and Mitch start having a more quiet conversation. I catch my name and Belle's once or twice. I try to focus on my own conversation, but I can't help but wonder what they're talking about. I start stuttering, and force myself to turn my complete attention to Ian.

Just as Jerome and Mitch are entering our conversation, a group of about six or so tweenage girls comes up and asks the three of them to sign stuff. I hang back, not wanting to leave but feeling awkward about staying. I can see people around me beginning to notice the guys signing stuff and wandering over. I look one last time, but the group surrounding them is getting bigger and there's no way they'll escape anytime soon. I start to head away, but Mitch calls out again.

"Jenna, wait!" he says loud enough to reach me over the crowd. I gently maneuver through the fangirls over to him.

"I'd love to brainstorm with you sometime," he says.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," I say. I pull a piece of paper out of my backpack and write my name and number on it.

"Here," I say, holding it out to him. He's signing one girl's poster, so he has no free hands. I tuck it into his sweatshirt pocket instead.

"Text me if you need me, or you can message me on Facebook," I say. He nods, not turning away from the fans in front of him. I stall; there's one more question I want to ask but it's kinda awkward. I tell myself to just get it over with and blurt it out before I can regret it.

"Can we get a picture quick?" I ask. "I just want to show my fans that I met you, 'cause we're starting up an Instagram account, and…" I try to make the question less creepy, but I run out of things to say. Luckily, he understands. He smiles and says yes, so I pull out my iPod. I turn so that he's in the background of the picture, but he doesn't have to stop signing stuff.

To my surprise, he finishes up signing the picture he was on and pulls me into a one arm hug. The fangirls all gasp collectively and I giggle inwardly. I don't even try to stop the huge grin that spreads across my face as I snap the picture. He lets me go and smiles at me.

"See you later, Jenna," he says.

"OR WILL YOU?" I reply, smiling. "Bye, Mitch."

I weave my way out of the group, still grinning. I'll probably be grinning all the way back to Wisconsin when we leave tomorrow and then all the way to Michigan the day after, when I go back to college.

A girl who looks about fourteen stops me on the edge of the clump.

"Aren't you one of the girls Mitch subbed to the other day?" she asks. Speechless, I can only nod. One of his fans recognized me. This day just keeps getting better.

"Would you mind signing my shirt?" she says, holding out an 'In Benja We Trust' tee.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," I say, managing to find my voice. I smile and take out my sharpie, scrawling my name on the fabric.

"Thanks Jenna," she says. "I really liked your channel, by the way."

"Coolness," I reply. She smiles and turns back to the three guys. I keep walking until I get to where I'm meeting up with Belle.

Today just became a really good day.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I didn't think I would see her again, which would kinda suck because I never got any contact information the first time. Fortunately, though, I see her walking alone the last day of the convention. I'm with Jerome and Ian, just walking around and taking it in one last time. I wave and she waves back, so I call her over. I can see her getting nervous, and I hope she's not one of those people who puke or faint when they're overanxious. She gets up to us without spontaneous illness, so I just forge ahead and hope for the best.

"Jenna, I'd like you to meet some people," I say. I use her internet name just to be safe. She shakes hands and exchanges hellos with the two of them in turn.

"So you're the girl Mitch has been going on about for the past two days," Jerome says. I shoot him a slightly pissed look.

"Was not," I say, but I can't stop a slight blush from creeping onto my cheeks. I just hope she doesn't notice.

"Dude, you so were," Ian says. She laughs, and I smile too. Ian starts talking with her about YouTube, so Jerome takes the opportunity to give me his opinion.

"Dude, she's kinda cute," he says. "Is she single?" I raise one eyebrow at him.

"Thinking about dumping Louise?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"Nah, G, for you," he replies. I shake my head.

"Jerome, you know how I feel about the ladies right now," I reply. He rolls his eyes.

"When are you gonna give it up, biggums?" he says.

"Not until I'm absolutely positive she doesn't like me," I reply.

"Just think about it: Jenna and Mitch, YouTube's hottest couple in gaming. Give Vengekipz a run for their money. You could even have your own couple name."

"No."

"Yus."

"No."

"Well, then, at least let Connor have her."

"Dude, gross. He's jailbait. Plus, I think he likes Grace more."

"Whatever, dude. I doubt she'd say no to you."

"You're a crazy man of the Bac," I say, turning to Lily and Ian. Just then, a group of fangirls descends out of nowhere and I'm unable to ask her about brainstorming. I see her walking off out of the corner of my eye as I'm signing someone's poster.

"Jenna, wait!" I call out. She turns back and winds through the group to end up back next to me.

"I'd love to brainstorm with you sometime," I say. She smiles and says it's no problem. I sign another couple things as she pulls out a piece of paper and writes stuff on it. When she finishes, I'm still signing a poster. She tucks the paper in my sweatshirt pocket and tells me to text her or message her on Facebook. I nod, not turning away from the fans in case they get angry and start a revolt or something. She's still standing there, and I can sense she wants to say something more.

"Can we get a picture quick?" she asks. "I just want to show my fans that I met you, 'cause we're starting up an Instagram account, and…" I say yes as she trails off. I sign some more stuff as she pulls out her iPod and tilts it so that I don't have to stop signing things. Instead, I pull her into a one sided hug. I note the huge grin that spreads across her face as she snaps the picture, and I laugh inwardly when I hear the gasp from all of the fangirls. I let her go after she takes the picture and smile.

"See you later, Jenna," I say.

"OR WILL YOU?" she says, eyebrow raised. She smiles. "Bye, Mitch."

I see her tall form walking away out of the corner of my eye. She gets stopped on the edge of the huddle and I smile just a little wider at the girl whose poster I just happen to be signing.

After about twenty minutes, the shirt that gets handed to me already has a signature on it, one I've only seen once before.

It's hers.

I sign underneath it.

I almost add #Jenja but I don't. I don't think we're well acquainted enough to have our own hashtag yet. Even then, we'd only be a friend-ship.

Haha, get it? Like a ship, but… friends.

I guess this is why Jerome hates my jokes.

It's been a good day and week. I made new friends.

Yay.

**A/N TIME! WHOOPEE! : Oh hai dere! This is your captain speaking. Thank you for flying QD Air. We hope you enjoy your flight, newly updated with cover art as well. Yay! But seriously, though, hey guys! As of me writing this A/N we are 13 views away from 1500, which is cray. Hopefully, I'll start showing up when you search for Bajan fics on Google. Anyway, I'm gonna do one last Fact/Fiction section; I don't know if I'm gonna continue them. Let me know if you want me to keep it in. That being said, here they are:**

**-Happy dances are one of my favorite things to do. PDP: personal dance party. Best kind of party.**

**-I love bad puns, and I make them about as frequently as Mitch does. And they're about as well-received.**

**-The mobbing thing was partly inspired by Mitch saying that thing about a metric butt-ton of people coming up to him at Minecon, and partly by a review from UltimateGeek. Thanks dood!**

**-Jenja is gonna be their couple time, but you're not gonna see it again for awhile. [insert evil author smile]**

**And now for the fictions:**

**-I have an eavesdropping problem, so if Mitch and Jerome were having a conversation about me a couple feet away, I would totally be listening to that. But, for the sake of the story, LILY HEARD NOTHING.**

**-I'm officially at the end of planning, so if the plot seems totally half-assed form here on out, I am so sorry. Really.**

**Anyway, thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, etc. I love it! You beautiful individuals are the best! This was another really long chapter, and I am exhausted. Also, I type while listening to Christina Aguilera songs, so they might influence me without me noticing, so if they do… well, sorry not sorry guys. SHE IS MY SPIRIT GUIDE. Moving on, I love you guys! Keep on being awesome sauce!**

**-Quiet Defiance**


	8. First Contact

CHAPTER 8: First Contact

"Can I drive?" Belle asks as we roll our suitcases to my old car. It's a dark red 2001 Ford Taurus called the Red Menace, and I love it.

"Not until we get to Wisconsin," I reply, popping the trunk. Belle just turned 16 a little over a month ago. She got her license about a week later, and had been dying to drive all the time ever since.

"Fine," she says, rolling her eyes. I make sure to lock the trunk before sliding into the driver's seat. The car starts up in just one try and we roll out of the parking lot, leaving the convention behind. We didn't end up meeting any new recording buddies, but that's okay. I got to meet Mitch, which made my year. I can't help but hope just a teeny bit that I'll be able to record with him sometime, even though I know it's highly unlikely.

We drive for a few hours, stopping around noon at a McDonald's for lunch. We get our food and finish it in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Belle makes a run to the bathroom, tossing our garbage on the way. While she's gone, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, finding a text from a number I don't know.

'_hey lily its mitch'_

I take a deep breath. My phone slips through my fingers onto the table.

HE ACTUALLY TEXTED ME! THIS IS BEYOND AWESOME! My legs start bouncing frantically under the table as a huge smile invades my face. My hands are shaking when I pick the phone back up.

_'hey dood! what's up' _

I hit send and add his number to my contacts.

_'nm just pissing off jerome'_

I laugh at that and ask him why. Belle has come back from the bathroom. She grabs some money and goes to order drinks for the road. I walk into the bathroom as my phone buzzes again.

'_were giving him a ride to the airport but i made him drive'_

I giggle, and I'm about to reply when another text interrupts me.

'_i'm poking him from the backseat and connor is singing twinkle twinkle little star'_

I laugh as I push open the door of the bathroom and walk back to the table.

'_XD lol im about to go back on the road but have fun :)'_

I send off one "last" text before we leave the restaurant. He replies before we even get to the car.

'_drive safe '_

OH SNAP GURL, HE SENT A SMILEY FACE! WHAT COULD IT MEAN?

I'm just kidding. It doesn't mean anything.

'_no promises ;)'_

My reply is joking. Belle is checking her own phone, probably for texts from her boyfriend. I was surprised at how little they talked during Minecon.

'_lol :) ttyl'_

I reply that I'll see him later as I start up the car. Putting my phone in the console, I shift out of park. We leave the parking lot with me significantly happier than when we arrived.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I wake up to Connor trying to be quiet. He's tiptoeing across the floor, holding his breath. I throw a pillow at him just as he trips on the shirt I was wearing yesterday. He falls to the floor and starts giggling. I throw another one, then two more. All my pillows are gone and he's buried in a fluffy heap. I get out of my bad and climb onto his, grabbing two pillows at once and chucking them on the pile just as he tries to sit back up. He goes back down, and I grab the pillow that's within easy reach. I use my other hand to search behind me for the last projectile as I throw the first at him. Unable to find it, I turn around. It's on the far corner of the bed, out of my reach. I turn around and dive for it. In the two seconds I'm turned around, Connor launches two pillows in my direction. One hits my back and the other smacks into my head. I go down under the surprise attack, and Connor takes the opportunity to throw the rest of them onto me.

So here I am, buried under eight pillows. I hardly even feel it when Connor jumps on the pile. I let out a yell that's more like a roar and shove my way out of the heap. Connor yelps and scampers into the corner, where he promptly becomes invisible because there are eight pillows on top of him. I hear his muffled surrender as I search around for clean clothes. I laugh as I find some and head into the bathroom.

When I come out about 15 minutes later, all eight pillows are in front of the door.

"Goddangit, Connor," I say under my breath. I hurdle the fluffy stack and make my way to the kitchenette for breakfast. After a couple hours of picking up, we're ready to leave. We roll our suitcases out and shut the door one last time. Our wheels make no noise in the carpeted hallway. The elevator doors ding as the close behind us. Connor hits the button for the ground floor and we start to move.

"Did you have fun?" I ask, feeling a need to fill the silence.

"Yeah," he says. "Met some cool people."

I don't bother asking who his favorite was. To be perfectly honest, they were probably my favorite too.

I'm talking about GracefulGaming, of course.

Before I can think farther on the subject, the doors slide open and we step into the lobby. Jerome is waiting for us, and falls into step as we push through the revolving doors. We only go around once, thank the lawd. It takes us a couple minutes to find the car, then another couple minutes to stow all our stuff. Connor is already bouncing, having called shotgun as soon as the car was in view. I unlock the doors and toss the keys to Jerome, who slides into the driver's seat.

Connor starts humming as we reach the freeway. I reach into my pocket for my phone, wanting to put on music to block out my brother. When I pull it out, a piece of paper is stuck in the edge of my case. It has a name and a phone number on it. I don't remember putting it there.

And then I realize it's because I didn't put it there. Lily did. Apparently, her last name is Ross.

Connor starts singing more loudly. I look up to see him shooting me an evil smile. I grin back, then send off a text to Lily. I start poking Jerome in the sided, tucking my phone under my leg.

"Mitch, no! STAHP! PLS DOOD, I FAN!" Jerome says, somehow managing to keep the car straight. My phone vibrates. It's Lily, asking what's up. I say that we're pissing off Jerome.

"I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL CRASH THIS CAR, YOU TWO," says Jerome. I laugh and continue to prod him. My phone buzzes again, and I explain to Lily what's going on.

"I hate you so much," Jerome says, accepting his fate. Connor pauses long enough in his "lovely," multi-verse rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to let out a few giggles. Lily tells me that she's about to go back on the road, so I tell her to drive safe.

'_no promises ;)'_

I smile at that, and say I'll talk to her later. She texts back saying more or less the same thing. We pull up to the airport just as Connor hits a high note in his (hopefully) final verse of Twinkle Twinkle. I get out and say good bye to Jerome, then plop into the driver's seat. I spend the drive home drifting around in my own thoughts. Lily crosses my mind a couple times, but only a couple.

Well, a few.

Okay, several.

There's someone else who features more prominently in my thoughts, but she's too far away to even try thinking about.

**A/N TIME! WHOOPEE-POO-HOO! : Wassup guys?! QD hmneah (say it aloud, it'll make sense) with the two chapters I promised. The play is over and it went well, for anyone who was curious. We performed **_**Radium Girls**_**. You should check it out sometime, it's pretty cool. Anyway, I just wanted to say muchas gracias for all the support! Here's the facts (since no one said stop and one person said go, they're staying :)) :**

**-I would totally drop my phone if something exciting happened, but it's ok because my phone is old and indestructible.**

**-I love annoying people (which is convenient because I'm pretty good at it) and would totally do what Mitch and Connor did to Jerome.**

**-It takes me forever to say goodbye when I'm texting people.**

**And for the fictions:**

**-I don't have a car. I am taking Driver's Ed now, though.**

**-My sister has broken up with her boyfriend since I started this story, but he'll stay for evil author reasons. [I do love you guys, I promise.]**

**-I'm really bad at pillow fights, mostly because I'm afraid of hurting people.**

**I think that's about it. Please favorite, review, etc. because it makes me feel happy inside. I like making you happy. It makes me happy. Then everyone is happy. Yay. You beautiful individuals are the bestest readers anyone could ever have! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm calling my "fans" (readers, whatever) beautiful individuals.**


	9. Actual First Contact

CHAPTER NINE: Actual First Contact

**WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. IF YOU THINK IT WAS AN UPDATE/NOTICE THINGY FROM ME, YOU ARE WRONG. GO BACK AND READ IT. AGAIN. FO REALZ.**

*le time skip – three weeks*

Oh lawd. Oh jeebus. Today is the day. Holy poop nuggets, I'm nervous. In about two hours, Mitch is going to Skype me.

Since Minecon, I went back to college. I spend all my free time recording little flash games and maybe livestreaming if I have time. Mitch and I have been chatting (that word totally reminds me of a room full of suburban, Midwestern moms) on and off. We've just been getting to know each other a little better. My inner fangirl has been relatively quiet lately, which is good but a little scary. Something's probably gonna blow up in my face.

Anyway, we arranged to Skype today to brainstorm some ideas for new series. If I'm lucky, we could record, but I doubt it. We've got about 800,000 subs now, but still…

I do homework in the meantime, only letting out a squeak once in a while. My roommate, Lizzie, came in a couple times to check on me. Also bring me snacks.

We're connected on a spiritual level sometimes. She knows all about Mitch and Minecon, and also the fact that he's Skyping me tonight. I had to bribe her with gummy worms to get her to not sit outside my door and eavesdrop.

I happen to be in the bathroom when he calls.

"LIZZIE SAVE MEEEEE!" I yell from the bathroom. I hear her run from the living room into my room and answer the call.

We live off-campus in an apartment, in case you were wondering.

I hurry as fast as I can to wash my hands and get back. When I finally get into my room, Lizzie and Mitch are having a completely normal conversation like they've known each other for weeks.

"Oh, she's back. I'll probably see you again sometime," Lina says. She waves goodbye and skips out of the room.

"Who was that?" Mitch asks.

"That was my roommate, Lizzie," I say. "She's aggressively friendly."

"Oh. I see, says the blind man," he says. I smile.

"Hey, do you mind if I play Minecraft while we talk? I'm bad at just straight-up brainstorming. Gotta get that inspiration 'n stuff." I know I sound nervous. It's probably because if I hadn't just peed, my pants would be real damp right now.

"Sure dood, no problem," he says.

"Coolness," I say. I log on and go on the Hive to play hide and seek.

"So what's up?" I ask, trying to fill the silence while I get into a game.

"Not much," he replies. "Just recording and stuff. How's life on your end?"

"Oh, y'know, college and stuff. Recording. All that jazz."

"Fun."

"Ya."

"How's Belle?" he asks.

"She's pretty good. She's hating school, as usual. How's Connor?"

"He's excitable, as usual. He almost never stops talking about you guys. Did you know that he gave Belle his phone number?"

"Really?" This was news to me. "Does he know she has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she told him right away. He was bummed at first, but now I think he's just glad to be her friend." I smile.

"Coolness," I say. I'm struggling for a way to keep talking, but I don't have to worry long.

"Got any ideas yet?" he asks, raising one eyebrow. I giggle.

"No, not yet. I'm playing Stand, so…"

"Oh, Hide and Seek?"

"Haha, yeah. The seeker is being beat to death by a herd of flowerpots."

He laughs. "Seriously?"

"Yus. You are big noob sir. Not big surprise," I say, imitating Mitch's own voice. He laughs. We make small talk for the next few minutes. My game ends and I get into another.

"What if you made a death maze minigame? Like, after you walk across, the blocks fall down, so you can't go back. You could have, like, four identical mazes stacked on top of one another," I suggest.

"Four chances to get it right," he says, catching on. I nod.

"Might not be the most interesting though, 'cause – OOH BABY!" I interrupt myself. "LAST HIDER! YEAAAH BOY!"

"Oh, GG dood," he says. "I don't know about the maze idea, but – "

"FLAMING BUTT NUGGETS OF SACRED PTERODACTYLS!" I yell, interrupting him.

"What?" he asks, laughing slightly.

"I died," I say, making an angry pout face. He laughs. We continue like this for a few more hours, tossing around ideas and playing minigames. Eventually, we end up both playing minigames and only making noises when something happens. I want to ask him to record, but I'm too nervous. I glance at the clock as I take a drink of water.

"Whoa, dood, it's midnight," I say. I don't actually want to stop talking with him (I mean, come on, I'm a fangirl), but I have an eight o'clock class tomorrow.

"Do you have to go?" he says. He sounds a little disappointed. I try not to get my hopes up.

"Yeah, I know, but I have an early class tomorrow, and… yeah," I finish lamely.

"Ugh, fine, I guess you can go," he says. I can tell he's hiding a smile.

"Fine then, I will," I reply, pretending to be indignant. I, of course, can't keep a straight face and start giggling. "Bye, Mitch."

"See ya later, dood," he says. I end the call, and take another deep breath.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYYY!

"I can hear you thought-screaming from here," Lizzie says from her bedroom across the hall.

"No you can't."

"Yes, I can. Now go to sleep."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

In about ten minutes, I'm gonna call Lily. I'm somewhat excited, 'cause she seems like a pretty cool person. I've been following their new Instagram (is that creepy?) to see what she's up to. We've been texting back and forth for a few weeks, and I can tell that she's getting more comfortable talking with me. Which is good, because it's hard to have a decent conversation with someone who's still in the fangirl stage.

I make sure I have food and drank and stuff before calling her. When she answers, it's not her.

"Oh, sorry, I must have the wrong contact," I say, and go to end the call.

"No, you're fine. You're Mitch, right? Actually, don't answer that question. You are. Lily will be here any minute. So what's up?" the girl says. I barely have time to process what's she saying before she's staring at me, expecting an answer.

"Um, not much. How about you?" I stammer out. She has long-ish brown hair, brown eyes, and blue metal glasses.

"Oh, I'm pretty good. So do you like Lily?" she asks bluntly.

"What? Why would you ask that?" I'm genuinely confused.

"Oh, she's back. I'll probably see you again sometime," she says. She waves goodbye and skips out of the room. Lily sits down in her place. Her brownish-reddish-goldish hair is in a messy bun on top of her head.

"Who was that?" I ask, still totally confused.

"That was my roommate, Lizzie. She's aggressively friendly," she says. I smile.

"I see, says the blind man," I reply. She smiles, and I notice a dimple in her right cheek. She asks if she can play Minecraft, and I say of course. I mean, our careers are kind of based on it, so… y'know. We make small talk. She busts out with an interesting phrase when she dies, and I laugh. Our interactions aren't quite natural, but they're surprisingly close for it being the first time we've really talked. Kinda weird, considering she's fallen asleep on me, but whatever. We bounce ideas back and forth for a few hours. Eventually, we end up just playing games and only talking when we die or something. We go on like this until she says she has to go.

Stupid college.

Oh well.

We say our goodbyes, and she ends the call. I head up to the kitchen in a good mood.

**A/N TIME! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT! : Hey guys! QD here with part two of promised update. Yay! I hope I can be able to update more frequently now that I don't have as much to do. Anyway, I don't think I have much else preliminary to say, so here we go!**

**-I do have a dimple in my right cheek. Also, I have a half-dimple (if that makes any sense) on my left.**

**-Random phrases spouted in excitement are the best. Period.**

**-I love putting my hair in topknots. My hair is currently too short to actually accomplish that… but whatever.**

**-The college I'm going to does allow living off-campus.**

**And for the fictions:**

**-Lizzie is based off of two of my friends that I love equally (you know who you are :) ). One of them looks like her, and the other is very social (at least, more social than me).**

**-I would not lose track of time and be caught in the bathroom like that. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.**

**-I would try to avoid an eight o'clock class if at all possible, even though I'm more or less a morning person. I just really, really love sleeping. Yep.**

**So I think that about wraps it up! As always, please review, favorite, etcetera. You beautiful individuals are seriously the best! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**


	10. Another First

CHAPTER TEN: Another First

We Skyped again a couple days later, then again the day after that. We did brainstorm a few ideas, but mostly we just talked and played games. After about two weeks, I got up the courage to ask him to record. I used my million subs video as an excuse.

"Hey, Mitch?" I ask, trying not to let my nervousness creep into my voice. I'm a lot more comfortable talking with him now, but that doesn't change the fact that he's Mitch.

Like, THE Mitch.

"Yeah?" he says, not taking his eyes off the screen. He's playing the Hunger Deens and I'm playing Hide and Seek. I take a deep breath (mentally – literally would just be weird) and ask.

"Would you maybe wanna record with me? Belle and I are almost at a million subs and I think it would be really cool if you were the first guest star ever on our channel 'cause you're, like, a big part of the reason I'm – well, we're – famous-ish and-" He cuts me off before I can ramble any more.

"Sure, dood," he says. "What do you wanna play?"

Crap. I hadn't thought ahead this far. My inner fangirl starts to panic, and I have to concentrate to avoid stuttering.

"I dunno," I say. "What sounds fun?"

"How about some Hunger Games?" he suggests. I nod, and log onto the Nexus.

"Just let me win this game quick," he says.

"Oho," I say. "Somebody's getting cocky."

"Am not," he says. "I'm just better than everyone else."

"I still think you're cocky."

"Yeah, well, you're wrong."

"You are what you eat, Mitch," I say. I grin so that he knows I'm teasing. He pouts.

"Take it back."

"Nope."

"I'm gonna end this call, I swear to God."

"Worth it."

"Why do I even talk to you?" he says.

"Because I'm special," I reply, hopping around the lobby.

"NOOOOOOOOOO SON OF A-" he yells out, letting some curses fly. I laugh.

"Wow, Mitch, I wasn't sure you were still capable of swearing," I say.

"Shut up," he mumbles. I get onto a Hunger Games server and let him know which one. I open up Fraps and start my recording as he gets in just in time.

"Hey internet, Jenna here! Today is our 1 million subscriber special! That's crazy! 1 million people watch me be a mentally unstable fangirl! WOOHOO! But seriously though, thank y'all so much and – OH LAWD WE'RE STARTING! Also we have our first-ever guest, so everyone say hello to…" I pause, waiting for Mitch to introduce himself.

"Hey guys, it's Mitch OR BajanCanadian and today I'm here with JENNA FROM GRACEFULGAMING!" He does his intro, and I can practically hear the fans geeking out.

"Ooh gurl, someone's gonna die today," I say, finding a wood sword in a chest.

"I'm a boy," Mitch says.

"Not anymore," I say, teasing him again.

"I'll prove it to you," he says. I facepalm inwardly.

"Okay, fine, I guess you can be a guy," I say, fake groaning.

We continue on like this, teasing each other back and forth. Eventually, both of us get into death match with ¾ iron and iron swords.

"HOO BABY, WE'S IS IN THE D!" I say. I double check to make sure my hot bar and armor are all set correctly. I have all iron except for my boots, which are leather.

"JENNA THAT'S NOT HOW ENGLISH WORKS," he says, referencing a joke I made earlier. We get teleported, and I see him across the arena with all iron except for his gold hat. He got NoochM's crown a few minutes ago, and was very showboat-y about it.

"Hey dood, let's team on Twinja_Minor and SenorSparkles so that we can be the last and duke it out," I suggest. He goes for the Senor, so I take down Twinja. Easy enough, since she's only got lingerie armor and a stone sword. Soon enough, the sparkly Senor is down for the count. We take a little bit to heal then go at it.

"YOU CANNOT TAME THE POWER OF THE BOOTS WITH THE FUR!" I say, getting a few good chops in. He runs off, trying frantically to eat some pumpkin pie made by NoochM's mom.

"NOOOO PLS DOOD I FAN!" he says. It's too late. I put in the last chop and the fireworks go off.

"YEAH BUDDY! VICTORY FOR JENNA! THAT'S WASSUP! Anyway guys, hope you enjoyed this vair special episode of the Hug Me Games and as a big thanks to Mitch for losing and for 1 million internet friends, let's shoot for 18,000 likes! YOU CAN DO EEEET!" I say, preparing to wrap it up.

"I let you win, you know," Mitch says in a pouty voice.

"Hokeyp, dood. Whatever helps you sleep at night." I giggle.

"You're a MONSTER," he says.

"I know." He laughs.

"Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed this video. Make sure you leave a like and go check out Jenna's channel. You heard the woman! Let's get her to 18,000 likes! Take care and I will see you all later." He finishes his outro and does the customary slurp.

"Remember, we love you!" I say, and turn off Fraps.

"Y u no slurp, J?" he asks. I slurp in response.

"Happy?" I ask.

"Very."

I glance over at the clock as I reach out to grab my water bottle.

"Oh, poo and a half, it's midnight," I say.

"Poo and a half?" he asks.

"It's just something my play director in high school said," I reply. "Dood, I gotta go, I have Psych at eight this morning."

"FIIIIIIIINE, LEAVE ME," he says, fake groaning. I laugh.

"Bye, Mitch."

"See ya tomorrow, dood."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

We Skyped again almost every day for the next two weeks or so. At that point, she asked If I wanted to record, and of course I said yes. We were becoming more comfortable with each other, having settled into a routine of sibling-like teasing. Sometimes during our calls, she just did homework and told me what her day was like. We were starting to be friends, and I have to admit it was nice. Maybe fangirls made good friends after all. She did know me (kinda) already, after all.

I ask her what she wants to play, and she leaves it up to me. Naturally, I chose the Hunger Deens, seeing as I was already playing it and all. She teases me about my bragging tendencies, and I threaten (not really, I just promised to record with her) to end the call. Of course, she teases me more when I die. Which I totally deserved, to be honest.

"Which server?" I ask. She tells me the number, and I get on just in time. She does her intro as I go to open Fraps. I get it up just in time to do my intro as she leaves me to introduce myself. We loot center and sprint off in different directions.

"Ooh gurl, someone's gonna die today," she says for whatever reason. I fake pout.

"I'm a boy," I reply.

"Not anymore," she says teasingly.

"I'll prove it to you," I say, regretting the words practically as soon as they're out of my mouth. I can practically hear the #Jenja comments being typed and the fanfictions being written.

"Okay, fine, you can be a guy," she says, pretending to groan.

"Yey," I reply, finding an iron sword in a chest. "Well, that's GG, sorry J."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" she asks. I am tempted to click over to Skype, 'cause I can just hear her raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, y'know, just got that IRON SOOOWWWWD," I reply, gloating just a little bit.

"UUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH you jag," she replies. A few more minutes pass of us messing with each other, running around and murdering the innocents, and picking up gear. Eventually, we both end up with almost full iron. Lily still has boots with the fur, and I have no helmet. That is, until I kill someone with a very shiny one.

"HOO BABY, GUESS WHO'S GOT NOOCH'S CROWN? That's right, THE BENJ," I say, showboating just a little bit. Well, a lot.

"Yeah, well, y'know what? You're underestimating the boots with the fur," she replies. "Gold crowns just don't match as well with apple bottom jeans."

"I don't care 'cause I'm more shinier than you."  
>"Meeeeeeeetch that's not how English works," she says. I can't see her, but I know she's rolling her eyes. I grin.<p>

"Don't care, you're dead!" I say as I murderize the last person.

"HOO BABY WE'S IS IN TO THE D!" she says.

"JENNA THAT'S NOT HOW ENGLISH WORKS," I say, throwing her own joke back in her face. We get teleported to spawn, and deathmatch begins. We agree to team, so I take down SenorSparkles while she chops Twinja_Minor. We take some time to heal, then begin the battle. She wins, and I pretend to pout. I'm only a little butthurt. We both wrap up our vids, and I make her slurp before stopping the recording. She tells me that she has to go 'cause it's midnight. Sure enough, she's right. We say our goodbyes and end the call.

I think our first recording went pretty well.

I'm kind of excited to do it again.

**A/N TIME! YEAHHAHA BOYY! : Hey doods! QD here with an update! WHOO! We are officially in the middle of two planned points, so if my chapters dip slightly in quality or length, that is why. Yey. Anyway, here are the facts/fictions!**

**-I have been waiting to make a "you are what you eat" joke in that type of situation ever since I heard Jerome do it (I think it might have been in an ASF Funny Moments Montage, but I'm not sure at all).**

**-My play director really does say "Poo and a half," as well as some other gems such as "Okie-dokie-peekie-nokie-nose."**

**-If I ever do start a Minecraft channel, I will definitely call the Hunger Games the Hug Me games and run at people screaming "HUG MEEEE" while I kill them.**

**-I am constantly editing people's grammar in my head. The worst is when people can't seem to comprehend to concept of adverbs or use "them" instead of "those."**

**-That being said, I do say "we's is" a lot, but never seriously.**

**-I am most likely gonna take Psychology in college as part of my neuroscience minor. **

**-Twinja_Minor is my Minecraft username.**

**AND THE FICTIONS:**

**-I am going to be avoiding 8 am classes in college as much as possible.**

**-I tease people and make jokes instead of actually talking just because it's easier. Also, it conveniently starts off the real relationship between Lily and Mitch as more of a brother-sister type thing.**

**[insert evil author smile, as per usual.]**

**-I don't know anyone with username SenorSparkles. I just thought it was funny.**

**-I don't know if Mitch would say butthurt, but it is literally one of my favorite words. Is that sad?**

**Anywhoozle, I just wanted to say thank you for being your usual amazing selves. When I received all the feedback on the two-parter, I was tearing up because y'all made me so happy. Keep up the reviewing, favoriting, etc. because it makes me happy, which makes me want to write, which makes you happy (hopefully). You beautiful individuals are truly, truly the best and I can't thank you enough. We're almost at 3,000 views! *brain explodes from sheer awesomeness of my viewers* MUCH LUV AND INTERNET HUGS!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – Happy 20****th**** birthday to both Mitch and Jerome!**


	11. Girl Talk

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

*le time skip – early November*

Things are the best they've ever been. Mitch's and my first recording together was received amazingly well, getting way over the 18,000 likes I asked for. Instead, it got almost 25,000. Lizzie and I were hopping all over our apartment when we found out. We've been recording a lot ever since, almost every week. I quickly found out that it's a lot harder to find time to record with someone than to just talk to them, especially when Mitch travels all the time and I seem to have tests whenever he's free. We still find time to talk practically every day. I would go so far as to say we're good friends.

Which, you know, is making my inner fangirl extremely happy.

Right now, I'm back in my hometown to see Belle perform in the school play. She's not the lead, but still has a fairly big part. They're doing _Anything Goes_, which has always been one of my favorite shows (shoutout to my fellow musical theatre geeks). I finally get a chance to talk to her for the first time in forever after her show Friday night. The cast goes to out to a restaurant for an afterglow (as per tradition) and were nice enough to let me come along. The first thing that comes out of her mouth isn't a question about college, or how I've been.

"So, how's Mitch?" she asks, taking a sip of her soda expectantly. I laugh.

"You know how he is," I reply. "You just talked to him two weeks ago." We recorded a little bit of Capture the Wool with him and Jerome, #Jenja versus #MinorASF. Mitch and I won, in case you were worried or something. I mean, come on now.

"Yeah, but still."

"Don't you wanna know how I am?"

She sighs overdramatically. "I suppose," she says.

"I'm doing great, thanks. Also, Lizzie says hi."

"Well when you can get back, you can tell her that I said 'may the gods smile upon you and your descendants.'"

I laugh. "Oh, totes McGoats."

We talk for a few more hours, just catching up. After awhile, we shift into deeper topics. She tells me that she's still solid in her relationship with Ryan, although Connor would be ecstatic if she left him. I laugh.

"Speaking of relationships, what's up between you and Mitch? Don't you guys Skype, like, every day? You can't truthfully say there's nothing going on there," she says.

"Yes, we Skype ALMOST every day, and NO, there's nothing romantic going on between us. We're just friends," I say. Honestly, it's better this way. I don't think my little fangirly heart could take a relationship at this point. I might actually explode from all the feels.

It helps that he likes someone else. He told me one day when mine and Lizzie's friend Corrin was over and I had to explain why there was a male voice in the shouting match going on in the kitchen. They were having an argument about whether or not toast legitimately deserves a different name than semi-burnt bread. Why, I don't know. I don't question my friends.

"Is that your boooooooooooooyfriiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend?" he asked, dragging it out.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo," I reply. "He's just a friend."

"Really?" he asks sarcastically, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Really," I reply, rolling my eyes.

"Really really? You don't like him even a little?" he asks.

"Nah, we're way too similar. He's like one of my limbs," I say. He really is. It's freaky how alike we are sometimes.

"So you don't like anyone then? You just hate all humans?" he says.

"How did you get from 'he's my friend' to me hating humanity? Of course I find people attractive. I just don't know anyone that I could stand to spend the rest of my life with. Or even a few months with, actually. Wow. I guess I do kind of hate humanity. I would just probably take a few seconds to appreciate them before I murdered them."

"Told ya. Psychic Benja is on the case."

"Ya well, what about you? Do you hate humanity?" I ask.

"No. Just most of it," he replies. I raise my eyebrows.

"So, there is someone, then."  
>"Maybe."<p>

"Does their name start with J and rhyme with Merome?" I ask.

"Really?"

"I had to. I'm bound by fangirl law. If it makes you feel any better, I was never really a Merome shipper. You guys were always a BroTP for me."

"Oh. Well in that case, no, but I will say that there is someone," he concedes.

"Really?" I ask. My inner fangirl rises to the surface, and I struggle to keep the overexcitement from spewing everywhere.

"Really."

"Does their name start with an A and rhyme with Mashley?" I ask.

He pauses. I start to smile.

"No."

"Um, bullshit."

"That's not nice," he says, looking offended. I smile wider.

"Well, you are a liar my good sir, and that's what happens to liars. You like Ashley."

"So?" he asks defensively.

"So what? I won't spill. I can practically hear the fanfics being written right now. I don't wanna have to read that so I can find good ones to embarrass you with."

"So you don't mind?" he asks.

"Why would I mind?" I reply. "It's your life, Mitch. I'm not gonna question you. Besides, she's pretty, and y'all would be a cute couple."

He blushes. "Shut up."

"Okay," I say. We continue our conversation as normal from there, dropping the subject.

"So there's NOOOOOTHING going on?" Belle asks, jolting me back to the present.

"We're friends, B," I reply. "That's all."

She gives me a doubting look, but drops the subject. The next morning, we make a vlog for one million even though we're halfway to two million already. Oh well, that's life.

I'm just gonna go with the flow.

**A/N TIME! BET YOU SAW THIS COMING! YEY! : Hey guys! QD here with another chapter. I didn't include Mitch's POV in this chapter because a) it would have been super long and b) I didn't think there was any point. Anyway, here are the facts and fictions!**

**-**_**Anything Goes**_** has been one of my favorite musicals ever since my babysitter played in the pit orchestra and gave my sister and me a CD when my school performed it and I was in elementary school.**

**-The person I based Corrin off of really is a lot like me. He practically is me, just a boy instead of a girl.**

**-The whole 'hating humanity' thing? Yeah, that's kinda true. I don't mean to think everyone around me are idiots, but it just kinda happens. Oh well.**

**-Merome is, and forever will be, my top BroTP. Never ever OTP. Sorry, Merome shippers.**

**-My sister's real name starts with a B, and I do call her B all the time.**

**And then the fictions:**

**-My friends and I are probably definitely not going to the same colleges.**

**-I don't know if my sister will even be in the musical when she's in high school.**

**Anyway, there it is! An update. YAY! Seriously though, this story is at almost 3500 views. HOLY PURPLE NUGGETS OF COMBAT WOMBATS, that is AMAZING! I can't say enough how awesome you beautiful individuals are. I love all of your reviewing, etc. Keep it up! You guys are what keeps me going. Just a warning, there are massive time skips coming up to get towards the next planned part of the story. PREPARE YOUR BODIES, as Mitch would say. As always, much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**


	12. Exams

CHAPTER TWELVE: Exams

*le time skip: early/mid-December*

_I blink and sit up from the bed. All my other furniture has disappeared. I look around my room. It's still dark, so I check my watch to see when morning will come._

_ It reads noon._

_ But it's so dark! I don't understand._

_ I pull my comforter off the bed to wrap myself in, but it disintegrates as soon as it leaves my sheets. I hear someone, a boy, call my name from down the hall. It's a voice I haven't heard in a long, long time. I make my way to the steps. For some reason, the mirror in the hall remains, even though all other furnishings are gone. I glance at it, just out of habit._

_ It's like someone put me through a time machine! I look exactly like I did my junior year of high school. That seems like it should be important, but all I can focus on now is the deep voice that keeps calling my name from the kitchen._

_ I get down there and flip on the light._

_ He's leaning against the wall in jeans, a v-neck t-shirt, and black sneakers._

_ "Took you long enough," he says. He walks over to me and pins me against the wall with his lithe body. He's quite a few inches taller than me, which is why I'm finally able to place him in my memories._

_ It's Aaron._

_ I had a mini-crush on him during my junior year, only because of his amazing back and incredible blue eyes. It might sound stupid, but I even once wrote a poem about his eyes. I didn't really like him that much, but (as any fangirl knows) when something is compelling you just gotta write about it. Before I can look at him more closely, his mouth crushes mine in a kiss. My eyes stay open out of pure surprise, and I find myself staring into his bright cobalt irises._

_ Wow. I'd forgotten just how beautiful his eyes were._

_ Then everything changes._

_ His pupils tremble and divide, becoming two in each eye, then four, then melting back into one. I can't bring myself to look away, even though I'm quickly running out of oxygen. It feels like I'm drowning. His eyes, blue like deep water, are drowning me. I can feel myself getting weaker, but I still don't look away. My hands rise up and scrabble at the wall behind me, but it's no use. He's too strong. Almost of their own accord, my hands find their way under his shirt and onto the small of his back._

_ Or, at least, where it would be if he had one. All that greets my fingers is bone. His eyes begin to glow and I feel myself falling headlong into them. Black spots dot my vision and I am finally snapped back into my own head, breaking the kiss just long enough to scream._

I'm still screaming when I wake up.

Lizzie comes in, as she always does. Just the sight of her comforts me, but I'm still shaken. She offers me a smile as she sits down on the corner of my bed and turns on my bedside lamp. I sit up and take the water she offers while she rubs my back.

"That's the third time this week," she says. I nod and take another sip. She gets a small notebook out of the nightstand along with a pen. I flip to a page titled "Aaron's Eyes" and make a tally mark next to the heading. It's the fourth one there; I've had this particular nightmare only four times. Most of the other ones are into the thirties and forties now.

"It's exams," I say, finally able to speak. The nightmares always come more frequently when I'm stressed, but I never go more than a few weeks without one.

No matter what.

It sucks, but I know that other people have way worse problems, so I don't complain. Not much I can do about it anyway. Lizzie offers one more smile and heads into her own room. I settle back down, glad that I'll have a peaceful night now. I usually sleep best after a nightmare.

The problem with my nightmares is I just keep generating more of them. I dream the poetry I have written. This might sound cool, and I guess it would be if I dreamed the nice poems I've written. But I don't. I only dream the ones that are disturbing or haunting, which is an issue as that's most of what I write. I was a very angst-y person when I was in high school, and my poetry shows it. It doesn't help that I liked being the adorable, happy-go-lucky little girl who wrote dark poetry about death and stuff when I was in middle school. Put those together, and you've got a great recipe for major issues and bad dreams. I managed to escape the major problems part, so I guess it's just karma that I get nightmares. I'm used to them by now, so what does it matter? Just another part of my life.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I finally found it: the address of Lily's college. I'm planning to go down there – sorry, POWER MOVE IT down there – at the end of exams week and surprise her. Hopefully she won't mind me crashing on her couch for a few nights. I doubt it though. Our friendship is pretty strong, and we do talk every day. She sends me really funny Snapchats of her making really unattractive faces during her lectures sometimes. It's a new experience, having a guy friend who's a girl (if that makes any sense).

It's becoming second nature, talking with her. Heck, we change into our PJ's half the way through our Skype call most of the time, and neither of us are motivated enough to turn off the camera. JUST TO CLARIFY, I HAVE NOT SEEN HER BOOBS. I'M NOT A CREEPER. I have seen her in her bra, though, and it felt really awkward until she pointed out that it's the exact same as a swimsuit. Then it was less awkward. I still have slight reservations about it, but she reminded me that there's a picture on Ian's Twitter of me with no shirt and unbuttoned pants, so… yeah. She clearly doesn't care. She doesn't even look. I will admit to a fleeting second or two of attraction the first time she stripped (wow, that sounds awkward), but it was only a second. We're like siblings, and incest is gross. And illegal. But mostly gross. Besides, like she says, it's only awkward if you make it awkward.

Anyway, I was driving down to Pennsylvania anyway for Christmas and New Years, so I figured I might as well stop over in Michigan. It doesn't really make sense, but if it did it wouldn't be a power move. I'm hoping to record a little bit while I'm with her, in any case. I'm excited to see her again.

Well, really, for the second time I guess, since I've really only seen her once in real life, at Minecon. She was still just a fangirl.

Also she fell asleep on my shoulder, which was adorable. In a little sister way, of course.

Well, kinda.

I also might see Ashley on New Year's, which is more exciting to me. She's maybe coming to a party Jerome's having, then going out to LA. I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I feel like I have to do something. Maybe I'll ask Lily. She's a girl, they know this stuff.

I don't know.

**A/N TIME! WHOO BABY! : Hey guys, QD here with yet another chapter for you. Hooray! Let's just hope that I can figure out ways to get sufficient filler chapters up on time. Also, I put a poll on whether or not I should post the poems that cause Lily's nightmares as one-shots. So, if you'd like to give me some input on that, I would love to hear your feedback (as always). Now that I've gotten that out of the way, on to the facts and fictions! WHOO!**

**-I did write a poem about a guy named Aaron. He's the only person who's name I haven't changed, just because the poem title "Aaron's Eyes" just doesn't sound as good with a different name. I will very happily upload that poem for you, along with any others that may or may not come along in the future ;)**

**-It really doesn't make any sense to drive to Pennsylvania by way of Michigan, which is what makes it a power move. DUH.**

**-I don't care if people see me change.**

**-I don't actually have nightmares, but I do write all the poems that you will see expressed as nightmares in the future.**

**-I actually don't care if people see me changing. Like I said, swimsuits are basically the same. IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND!**

**And then the fictions:**

**-I don't dream my own poetry. Which is really good, because some of that stuff is… it's bad.**

**-I have no idea why anyone would drive from Montreal to Michigan to Pennsylvania. Honestly? Just fly, seriously.**

**I think that about wraps it up! I am currently listening to the soundtrack for Legally Blonde the Broadway musical. Why? I don't know. Why do you need to know? Because. Thank you guys for all the continued support. You beautiful individuals mean the world to me, and your feedback makes me so happy. We're at 75 reviews and 3,886 views as of me checking right now. KEEP IT UP! You guys are crazy awesome, and I give internet hugs to you all! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS- POWER MOVES ONLY (I got my temps yay :))**


	13. After Finals

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: After Finals

"WHOO! I'M DONE! TIME TO MAKE CELEBRATION AND DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF WORTH!" I shouted as Lizzie and I walked into our apartment. I tossed my bag on the floor next to our dining table.

"Hey, what's your wifi password?" a new voice says. I look up to see someone in our kitchen that I hadn't noticed when I came in.

"MITCH?!"

"Yeah. Hi," he says, smiling.

"Who let you in here?" I ask.

"I did, about five minutes before I picked you up," Lizzie says from the entryway.

"Oh," I say. "The password's on the bottom of the router, which is over there," I say, gesturing vaguely in its direction. He says thanks and goes over to it.

"So, what brings you here?" I ask, trying to be casual.

"Oh, I was just driving down to Pennsylvania and I thought I'd stop by," he says, stopping his typing briefly to direct a smile at me. I smile back and raise my eyebrow.

"Just stop by, huh?" I say. I picture North America in my head, and Michigan is completely out of the way. A dopey smile spreads across my face as I realize he did this just to see me. He finishes typing and comes over to me, wrapping me in a hug. I have to consciously restrain myself from burying my face into his warm torso.

"Yeah. I thought that as long as I'm driving down, I might as well make a power move out of it," he says. He releases me.

"Oh, of course. Silly me."

"Besides, Lizzie said I could stay here for a few days."

"Oh, she did, did she?" I say, shooting her a look. She doesn't look sorry one bit.

"Is that not okay?" he asks.

"Are you kidding? Of course it's fine. In fact, you're very welcome to join in on our post-finals tradition if you want," I offer. Every year after finals, Lizzie and I dress up in the dorkiest sweats we own, eat nothing but ramen noodles, and watch terrible sci-fi movies all night.

"Tradition, you say?" he asks, and I explain it. He starts nodding as soon as I mention the sweats.

"You had me at ramen," he says, shooting a smile at both of us.

"Great. I'll start the noodles if you guys wanna get changed," I say.

"Oh, we're doing this now?" he says.

"Hells yeah!" I reply.

"Don't you think 3:30 in the afternoon is a little early for ramen?" he says.

"Blasphemy," I say. "There's no such thing as a bad time for ramen. Bathroom's at the end of the hall, by the way. You're not allowed to participate unless you are in sweats."

"Okay, J," he says. He grabs some clothes out of a duffel on our couch and walks down the hall. I watch him go, my eyes drifting down his retreating figure. I snap out of it once I realize what I'm doing. _No, Lily, he's your FRIEND. No checking out of the ass._

I go over to the island and get out the large pan, fill it with water, set it on the stove to boil. I dig three identical packages of ramen out of the cupboard and toss them next to the range. Mitch comes out of the bathroom and sticks his old clothes in his duffel.

"I see Lizzie warned you about the tradition," I say. He's wearing pajama pants covered with Batman symbols and the same yellow and gray hoodie he was wearing when we met at Minecon.

"Actually, she didn't, and I'm a little offended that you find these dorky."

"Watch the water, sassypants," I tell him. I go into my room to find my ugliest sweats.

Fortunately, they match. They're even my mom's old college sweats, which is conveniently the same college I now attend. I come back out to the laughs of both Lizzie and Mitch. I strike a pose, giggling like a little kid.

I guess I forgot to mention that my sweatshirt and pants are the exact same orange color. Separate, they're not so bad (except the pants, which are clearly from the eighties and… yeah), but they're a terrifying combo. Lizzie, who's perched on the counter along with Mitch, claims that it never gets old, even though she's seen them five times now. Her dorky sweats are not nearly as bad. They're just dark green and full of holes.

"Laugh all you want, but this is how I get all the bitches," I say, twirling and posing again. I walk over to the water (which is now boiling) and put in the noodles. Mitch smacks my butt with a towel and I turn around, fake offended.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"No you're not."

"It's the pants."

"Suuuure it was."

"It was."

"Shut up," I say, punching him lightly on the arm.

I'm really glad he's here.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I don't even try to hide when she crashes through the door.

"WHOO! I'M DONE! TIME TO MAKE CELEBRATION AND DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF WORTH!" she shouts, not noticing me in the kitchen. She tosses her bag on the floor and I decide to speak up.

"Hey, what's your wifi password?" I ask, keeping a straight face. She finally notices me, her eyes widening. I smile at her expression.

"MITCH?!" she says disbelievingly. I smile again.

"Yeah. Hi."

"Who let you in here?"

"I did, about five minutes before I picked you up," Lizzie says from her position by the door. Lily calms down and tells me where the wifi password is. She asks me why I'm here and I say just for making power moves. I can tell she saw through it, but I can tell by the smile that takes over her features that she doesn't care. I finish entering the password and wrap her in a hug. I'm not gonna lie, it feels nice to have her in my arms. Not as nice as it'll feel to hold Ashley, though.

She invites me to join in their tradition, and I accept. She starts cooking while I go to change. When I come back out, I see her suppressing a smile. I guess my superhero pants are a little dorky.

"I see Lizzie warned you about the tradition," she says teasingly.

"Actually, she didn't, and I'm a little offended that you find these dorky," I reply.

"Watch the water, sassypants," she says, and goes down the hall to her room. My eyes drift down her retreating figure. I quickly turn back to the water once I realize what I was doing._ No, Mitch, do not check the booty. She's like your sister, and incest is gross._

Lizzie comes out a moment later, and we hop on the counter and make small talk until Lily emerges in all her glory.

OH MY GOD, MY EYES! THEY BURN! I start laughing, not even noticing that the water is boiling. She gives us a sassy remark and puts the noodles in. I grab a towel off a drawer handle and smack her butt with it. She turns around, pretending to be mad. I blame her pants, but it's clear she doesn't believe me. She turns back to the noodles and stirs them a few times before going over to her bag. She pulls out some DVDs and spreads them across the table.

"What's first?" I ask. Lizzie and Lily share a look before Lily snatches one up and they both shout the title. I can tell that this is part of the tradition.

"BIG-ASS SPIDER!"

"Seriously?" I ask. That's gotta be one of the stupidest titles I've ever heard.

"Absolutely," Lizzie says with a straight face.

"One hundred percent," Lily says with no trace of a smile.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" I reply.

"The ramen," Lizzie says.

"Oh. Right."

"Which is done," Lily says. She brings the pot over to the sink and drains some water while Lizzie grabs some bowls from a cabinet. They get everything ready, hand a bowl to me, and the three of us head over to the couch. Lizzie plops down on the left, Lily in the middle, and I move my duffel to the floor so I can sit on the right.

I wonder briefly what will happen, because the last time I watched a movie with Lily she ended up falling asleep on me.

Guess only time will tell.

**A/N TIME! HOLLA! : Hey doods! QD here with an update for ya, because you beautiful individuals are my favorite people. You guys have put this story over 4500 views (4561, to be exact), which is a crazy number. That's like 4.5 times the size of my school. WHOA. Anyways, here are the facts!  
>-I do own matching orange college sweats that used to be my mom's.<strong>

**-Big-Ass Spider is a real movie that I've watched. It's really not that bad, actually.**

**-Ramen is delicious.**

**And then the fictions:**

**-I will once again reiterate: I AM PROBABLY DEFINITELY MISREPRESENTING MITCH.**

**I think that's it for now! I will be posting the poems, but not as one-shots. Instead, they're going to be different chapters in a story called **_**Lily's Nightmares. **_**Keep up the reviewing, favoriting, etc. because it makes me happy in my heart. As always, I love you beautiful individuals. Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS- Mitch if you're reading this and have gotten this far, well first thank you and secondly I'm sorry that I'm just basically fangirling hysterically and being a semi-stalker. **


	14. Later that Night

CHAPTER 14: Later that Night

It's around midnight, and I'm already tired. We've watched Big-Ass Spider, Sharktopus, Mega Piranha, and Sharknado so far. We're about to put in Sand Shark, but I doubt I'll be awake by the end. Besides (SPOILER ALERT), they just end up blowtorching the sand into glass, which somehow kills all the sharks. A lot of people die violently along the way, and there's a "cliffhanger" (a term I'm using vair loosely here) that teases a sequel that will never be made. Big whoop. Don't get me wrong, though. I can't get enough of the poor acting or the low-budget effects. Or the weak plot. Or the faulty science. For some reason, I just really love bad sci-fi.

After about 45 minutes, I feel my head start to dip. Mitch notices and puts his arm around me. I relax into him, feeling myself come even closer to sleep. My last thought before I drift off is that this must be what it's like to have a big brother.

I like it.

I wake up I don't know how much later in midair. Mitch must be carrying me to my room, 'cause Lizzie sure can't lift me like this. I crack one eye open slightly, not enough so that he can tell I'm awake. He's looking down at me with a small smile on his face. I have to concentrate not to smile back and give away the fact that I'm not sleeping. He lays me gently on the bed and pulls the covers up over me. I open my eyes all the way and speak up just as he's in the doorway.

"I would've walked if you'd asked."

"You're awake?" he asks, taking a few steps back into the room.

"I'm a light sleeper."

"Lizzie and I were gonna watch one more movie. Do you wanna come back out?"

"Nah." I yawn. "It's the one about the camel spiders, right?"  
>"I think so."<p>

"I'm probably just gonna sleep, then. I hate spiders and anything that looks like spiders. They freak me out," I say, reaching over to the nightstand to put my glasses down.

"But you watched Big-Ass Spider."

"Yeah, but it only freaked me out when it was small, which isn't even half the movie."

"I guess." He stalls in the doorway. I speak up to avoid an awkward moment.

"Good night, Mitch," I say, yawning again.

"Good night, J," he says. I hear him take a few steps down the hall before coming back.

"Where am I sleeping?" he asks. I can't see his face. My vision without my glasses is terrible.

"Wherever you want. You can kick Lizzie out of her room and she can come in here, or you can go on the couch. There's also a tiny air mattress in the hall closet. Or you could come in here, I really don't care. Just don't fall asleep on the kitchen counter and stab yourself in your sleep," I say.

Wait a second. Did I just invite him to share a bed with me?

I did. Oops.

Oh well, not like it means anything. We're just friends.

"I – okay," he says, turning and walking back down the hall. This time, he doesn't come back, and I drop off to sleep again. Luckily, I don't have any nightmares tonight.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

Big-Ass Spider was not actually as bad as I thought it would be. The others were, though. Lily's sarcastic comments made the other three bearable. Midway through the fifth, I notice her head dipping. I put my arm over her shoulders and let her snuggle into me, making her more comfortable. She falls asleep a few minutes later, her glasses sliding to the end of her nose. She looks adorable.

In a little sister way, of course.

Lizzie and I watch the rest of the movie in silence. Once the credits are rolling, Lizzie gets up as quietly as possible and takes out the DVD. She grabs another one and pops it in.

"Another one?" I whisper, not moving.

"Yeah," Lizzie replies. "Last one. This one's about camel spiders, anyway. Lily hates spiders with a passion, so she usually sits this one out anyway."

"Oh. Okay," I say. I pick Lily up gently, bridal style, and carry her towards her room. I glance down to make sure her glasses are still in place, and I can't help but smile at her sleeping face. Once we get into her room, I lay her on the bed gently and pull the covers over her. I hear her speak when I'm almost out the door.

"I would've walked," she says, her voice a little scratchy from sleep.

"You're awake?" I ask, taking a few steps back into the room to hear her better.

"I'm a light sleeper," she replies. I let her know that we're watching one more movie and invite her back. She declines, saying that spiders freak her out. I reply that she watched Big-Ass Spider, but she reminds me that she only hated it when the spider was tiny.

Now that I think about it, she did let a few screams loose when the spider was still a somewhat realistic size, but she just laughed when the spider was ten stories tall. I stall in the doorway, not sure how to phrase my question.

"Good night, Mitch," she says, yawning.

"Good night, J," I say, automatically walking back towards the living room. I remember that I need to still ask her a question and return.

"Where am I sleeping?" I say, just going for it.

"Wherever you want. You can kick Lizzie out of her room and she can come in here, or you can go on the couch. There's also a tiny air mattress in the hall closet. Or you could come in here, I really don't care. Just don't fall asleep on the kitchen counter and stab yourself in your sleep," she replies. She mumbles slightly, delaying my comprehension of what she said by a few seconds.

Did she just ask me to sleep with her? But then she said she didn't care.

I don't think she meant in THAT way. We're just friends. Hell, we're almost like siblings.

I walk back down the hall and flop on my half of the couch. The movie's already started, but it doesn't really matter with this type of movie anyway. It's not the same without Lily, but it's still somewhat bearable because of the time and the fact that I drove six hours today. By the end of the movie, the drive is getting to me, and I'm almost nodding off.

"Hey, I'll go in with Lily and you can take my bed," Lizzie says. I yawn and nod, stretching as I get up off the couch. I walk down the hall and into Lizzie's room, barely finding the willpower to pull the comforter over me before I fall asleep.

**A/N TIME! HAHA, YEAH! : Hey guys, QD here with another chapter! YAY! Not much to say, except for thank you guys for your continued support (4960 views whaaat). Shoutout to Twistedmind64 for standing up to a hater for themselves and me :) Also, just a note about Lily's Nightmares: these are poems I'd already written. Any nightmares Lily has are based on preexisting poems that I wrote up to six years ago and I'm now publishing for your reading pleasure. With that said, here are the facts!**

**-I have seen all movies mentioned. Yup.**

**-I am a super light sleeper.**

**-I was gonna say something about being psychic about the whole Mashley deal, but then it was a joke, and I slapped myself, and… yeah**

**-I don't make good judgments when I'm tired, and would probably accidentally say something like Lily does. Yay.**

**-I am pretty good at pretending to be asleep.**

**And for fictions:**

**-The camel spider movie is not bearable under any circumstances. Period.**

**-I would not have walked.**

**That's probably it! Keep up the reviewing, etc because that's how I find new stories to read (and review ;) ). If you want me to check out your story, don't be afraid to PM me. I will be glad to check it out and leave a review. You beautiful individuals are my inspiration and I cannot thank you enough. Much luv and internet hugs as usual!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS- Did anyone else have their feels broken by the #Mashley prank? I was all like YESYESYES and then I slapped myself because it wasn't real and that's how I deal with hurt feels. Sad face.**

**Now I have no evidence that Mitch isn't gay to show my two friends that believe he is.**

**Oh well HERP DERP DERP**


	15. The Next Day

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Next Day

When I wake up, Lizzie is still sleeping, so I try not to make any noise as I edge out of bed and tiptoe down the hall. I peek into Lizzie's bedroom, where Mitch is sprawled across the sheets. I stifle a giggle and continue into the kitchen. I walk over to the cereal cabinet and grab the first box I see, which just happens to be Honey Bunches of Oats. I grab my favorite bowl, the one with the built-in straw (I'm six, don't judge me), and get my breakfast ready. I plop down on the living room couch and turn on the TV, flipping through channels until I find a show I want to watch (PROPERTY BROTHERS! SCORE!). My family has always been weird that way, we love HGTV.

Around the end of the show, when I've been watching it for about 45 minutes, it finally occurs to me to check the time. 9:55 AM. Of course. For whatever reason, I always wake up earlier when I stay up late. If it were a normal weekend, I'd be waking up in fifteen minutes to half an hour.

It takes another half an hour for Lizzie to stumble out of my bedroom, still clumsy from sleep. By now, I've finished my cereal and I'm working on a cup of coffee (no sugar and a lotta milk). She plops down on the couch as I get up. I pour her coffee (two spoons of sugar and slightly less milk) and bring it over to her. She rubs her eyes underneath her glasses and accepts the mug. She flips the channel to TLC, our second most frequently watched channel. _Deadly Women _is on, and we quickly get invested. It's times like this where we don't really talk. We just sit there in what I like to call "companionable silence."

I'm considering lunch when Mitch FINALLY comes out of Lizzie's room, squinting like he's still adjusting to the light. I smirk when he bonks gently into the wall as he enters the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," I say. "Help yourself to whatever you want."

"Thanks," he says. After a bit of scrounging through the cupboards, he finds the cereal, a bowl, and a spoon. He pours it, then looks up at me like he's confused.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" he asks. I can tell he's holding back a smile, but I somehow manage to keep a straight face when I reply.

"Fangirl law number one-nine-two dictates that any subject of a fandom must always be considered beautiful, even if one is no longer granted the full title of fangirl."

"Oh. Right," he says, and goes back to his cereal. I can't help it any more. I bust out in giggles, as does Lizzie. Even Mitch starts laughing, but keeps focused on his cereal. Soon enough, I'm full-out cracking up, falling over onto my side. Lizzie's in much the same position as me, and Mitch has buried his face in his arm. I guess things are just funnier in the morning.

"It wasn't even that funny," I manage to get out after the three of us have calmed down.

"Not at all," Lizzie says, wiping a tear. Mitch comes over and plops in between us with his cereal. I hand him the remote (it's an unspoken law in our house that whoever sits last gets to at least see what else is on before being outvoted), and he flips through channels mindlessly. He ends up just turning it back to _Deadly Women,_ and the four of us sit for a while in silence.

"So, what are we doing today?" Mitch asks.

"Well, usually we pack up for our trip home and clean the apartment and stuff, but Lizzie's already cleaned it by the looks and we don't really need to pack, so… I have no idea," I reply.

"Don't forget the _My Roommate and I _stream," Lizzie says.

"Pffft, course not," I say. Every year before we leave for home (both before winter break and summer), Lizzie and I host a 4-hour livestream playing random games like Happy Wheels and Draw My Thing. Our rules are simple: we can't leave the room for the whole four hours, no breaks, and no visitors. It can get tough sometimes, especially when I have to pee or the kitchen is calling my name. Still, though, it's been a ton of fun the past two years, and the viewers have loved it.

"Mitch can't join that one, though," I say. He looks over at me, offended.

"Why?"  
>"MRAI rule #3: no visitors," I say. "Whoever breaks the rules has to wear my orange sweats to class for a day." His eyes widen.<p>

"Oh dang. That's a punishment."

"Yeah."

"It still has to happen, though," Lizzie says. The three of us go silent for a minute, our brains working at top speed.

"Well, seeing as it's almost one o'clock, how about Lizzie and I eat lunch and then start the stream around one-thirty? Mitch, you can either stay here and be quiet like a good boy or go explore the outside world, it's up to you. As long as you don't crash the stream, you can do whatever you want," I say. The other two nod in agreement.

"_Whatever _I want?" Mitch asks, a devilish smirk starting to appear on his face.

"Within reason."

"Whose reason?"

"Mine," I reply.

"You're no fun."

"None at all," Lizzie says.

"You are absolutely right. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some lunch to put in the microwave," I say, heaving myself off the couch and stumbling my way into the kitchen. I search through the fridge until I find the burger patties from a couple nights ago. I plop them on a plate and put them in, using the time to find myself condiments and utensils. Lizzie takes her turn checking the fridge, pulling out whatever she ate for lunch yesterday. We take our food into my room and prep for the stream, changing clothes, making sure all digestive-related needs have been attended to you. After the burgers have disappeared and Lizzie's lunch is gone, I send out a tweet and record a quick vlog to post on the channel. About five minutes later, we begin.

"Hey internet, Jenna here with the ever-lovely –"

"MY NAME IS RACHEL! I'M HERE FOR YOU BRUCEMANBATWAYNE!"

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I can hear the TV going in the living room when I wake up. For a second, I'm disoriented by the amount of light in the room. Then I remember where I am, and swing myself out of bed. Breakfast is calling my name, so I head down the hall towards the kitchen and whatever else is down there, I'm not really sure. When I come into the even brighter light of the living room, the two girls are sitting on the couch with cups of coffee watching a show where someone just died horribly.

Murder in the morning, my favorite way to start off a day.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Lily says from the couch. "Help yourself to whatever you want." I limp my way into the kitchen (stiff morning walk, you know how it is) and search through the cupboards for an acceptable form of nourishment. After about ten seconds, I find what is immediately my favorite place in the kitchen.

The cereal cupboard.

I grab a box, I'm not really sure which kind but it doesn't matter at this point, and scrounge some more to find a bowl and spoon. Her statement doesn't really "dawn" on me until I'm dumping the cereal into the bowl.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" I ask, trying my best to keep a straight face. She spouts off something about a fangirl law. I act like that's totally normal and turn back to my cereal. Soon enough, she and Lizzie bust out in giggles, and I can't help but laugh myself. It's not much longer before all three of us are laughing uncontrollably. It's really not even that funny, but I can't stop laughing. Kinda makes me realize that Lily's not the same person she was when I met her. She's not my fangirl anymore. I'm glad, though. It would be kinda really weird if I just casually changed my clothes almost every night in front of a fangirl. It's evident in her videos that her attitude towards me has changed, and I think it's affected her commentary for the better. She's screaming less, anyway.

I guess I'm the one that changed her. Huh.

I DID THAT WITH MY MIND!

**A/N TIME! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT:) : Hey guys! QD here with yet ANOTHER chapter for all y'all. Thank you as usual for being so amazing and wonderful and lovely and all that other happy fluffy stuff. You beautiful individuals have skyrocketed this story to over 5600 views, which is a number I never could have imagined reaching when I first started this story. Thank you for your continued support and all of your lovely reviewing and whatnot. Remember, if you want me to read something you've written, just PM me and I will check it out (*cough GUARANTEED REVIEW :) cough*). With that said, here are the facts!**

**-For whatever reason, I usually wake up early at sleepovers and stuff. I don't know why, and I'd probably be a lot happier if that didn't happen anymore. Oh well.'**

**-Those orange sweats are definitely a punishment. You have no idea.**

**-My family has a strange fixation with HGTV. **_**Property Brothers **_**is where it's at.**

**-**_**Deadly Women **_**is on par with **_**Untold Stories of the ER **_**in my book. Which is to say, strangely good.**

**-I don't put sugar in my coffee, which is why I don't loooooove Starbucks (even though I'm a white girl).**

**-Companionable silence is legit.**

**And then for the fictions:**

**-My friends don't really drink coffee. At least, not the two Lizzie is based on.**

**-My streaming software sucks. I tried streaming once and I got like 12 fps and no audio. Maybe I just need a new computer. I don't know.**

**I think that about sums it up for now! Don't forget to check out the companion **_**Lily's Nightmares **_**if you want to know where her bad dreams came from. All her nightmares are based on poems that I have already written in the past that I'm now posting for YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE:) There's only one there now, but there will be more in the future [insert evil author smile]. Also, apologies for the super-short Mitch POV. Lily's was pretty darn long today and it's getting late, so I should probably go. Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – Once again, Mitch if you are reading this and have gotten this far, I am very sorry for horrendously misrepresenting you. *laughs awkwardly then trails off***


	16. My Roommate and I

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: My Roommate and I

"Hey internet, Jenna here with the ever-lovely –"

"MY NAME IS RACHEL! I'M HERE FOR YOU BRUCEMANBATWAYNE!"

"Omigod Rachellllll, Bruceman likes the OTHER Rachellllllllll," I say in my "popular girl" voice.

"Yeah well she'll be dead soon so it doesn't matter," Lizzie says, staring into the camera with a mentally unstable smile.

"Oh. Of course. Silly me. What do you wanna play first?" I ask.

"Let's play –"

"Happy wheels it is," I say, purposely cutting her off. She pouts while I pull up the game and take the facecam off full screen. I browse the levels, selecting a rope swing.

"George, George, George of the jungle, OH GOD MY ARMS ARE GONE NOOOO," I say as segway senor falls onto the spikes. I wince as the blood spurts everywhere.

Oh, Happy Wheels.

The next hour and a half pass by quickly, with Lizzie and I trading off every 25-30 minutes or so. Around the 1:40 minute mark I get hungry, and I let Lizzie take over while I hunt for (what else?) pretzels. I can't find them anywhere.

"Yo, gurl, did you grab the pretzels?"

"No no no senor, the pretzels no es here," she says in some sort of Hispanic accent.

"Does it count as a visitor if they don't enter the room?" I ask. Lizzie catches on quickly.

"That depends…"

"I want some pretzels, dammit."

"We will decide on suitable punishment later," she says, giving me an evil smile. "You can call for backup now. BUT YOU SHALL PAY! YOU SHALL BURN IN THE FIERY PITS OF –" she's interrupted by something hitting the door. When I open it, there's a bag of pretzels on the floor.

"The pretzels! THANK YOU JESUS!" I say, grabbing them off the floor and pretending not to know where they came from.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Mitch shouts from the kitchen, loud enough to be heard on the stream. I laugh and shut the door. I walk back over and sit down, tearing the bag open.

"Do I still receive punishment?" I ask, stifling a smile.

"Ask and ye shall receive."

"But I didn't ask Jesus for pretzels, I asked you."

"I'm Jesus. Surprise," Lizzie says. Neither of us look at each other, both of us focusing on the game of Can Your Pet Lizzie is now playing. She's never played, and I'm anxious to see what her reaction will be when her adorable little chicken is… tenderized.

"No you're not. Jesus is in our kitchen. Didn't you hear him say 'you're welcome' when I thanked him?" I ask. She's about to see her pet ground into nuggets, and I'm smiling evilly like an idiot.

"So? I can Jesus if I wanna be J – NOOOOO! BRUCEMAN!" she yells, a traumatized look taking over her features. Meanwhile, I'm laughing my ass off. I'm such a great friend.

"YOU NEVER SAID! YOU NEVER SAID HE'D BE BRUTALLY MURDERED!"

"You're right. I didn't say he'd be brutally murdered for your culinary enjoyment. I also never said he would live to have children and raise a little chicken family."

"But – but – but – DEAD!"

"Yes. You killed him to death so hard he was murdered."

"WHY GOD WHY?!" she says, falling sideways out of the chair. I slide into her place and make the facecam full screen while I switch games. I pull up Slender, something I only play once in a while because I usually can't play it multiple nights in a row.

"Alright, time to crap my pants. LEEEGGGOOOOOOOO!"

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I decide to watch her stream for a few hours. It feels kinda weird when I hear them yelling from down the hall, then see it again a few seconds later on my laptop. Still, though, they're undeniably amusing, and almost two hours pass without me noticing. Or moving, really.

"Yo gurl, did you grab the pretzels?" Lily asks onscreen. I glance over to the counter, where a 3-pound bag of pretzels is just chilling. On a hunch, I get up and grab it, then walk down the hall to her door. Lizzie is just beginning to threaten Lily about breaking the rules.

" – BURN IN THE FIERY PITS OF –" I toss the pretzels at the door and run back down the hall into the kitchen, just in time for Lily to yell.

"THANK YOU JESUS!" she says. I don't hear the door shut, so I go for it.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" I shout back, hopefully loud enough to be picked up in the stream. Sure enough, a few seconds later, I hear myself faintly in the background. I watch the comments to see if anyone picked up on my identity.

_XD lol 'you're welcome' hey jesus_

_lol who was jesus_

_was that mitch?_

Sure enough, someone does. It doesn't matter, though, because it's about at this time that the cute little chicken Lizzie has been raising gets chopped into chunks and her reaction is extremely distracting. Lily is laughing her ass off, and I'm breathing really hard from trying not to laugh out loud. Poor little Bruceman. He'll make some juicy McNuggets, though.

Once they've calmed down slightly, Lily pulls up Slender and starts playing. I'm interested to see how this turns out, especially now that I've seen how she does with things that aren't even that scary. She was definitely startled to say the least when we were watching _Big-Ass Spider. _It takes her ten minutes of nervous commentary for her to find her first page.

"Hooray, a page. NOW RUN! RUUUUUN! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SHINY GO FASTERRR! GET 'ER G – OH GOD HE'S RIGHT BEHIND ME NONONONONONONO! WHY AM I HERE? WHY THE FRICKLE FRACKLE DO I EVEN NEED THESE PAGES?! WHOSE BRILLIANT FREAKING IDEA WAS IT TO GO OUT INTO A SPOOKY-ASS FOREST AT NIGHT, ALONE, WITH A CRAPPY LITTLE FLASHLIGHT TO LOOK FOR SOME PIECES OF PAPER THAT BASICALLY JUST SAY 'U DED, WE DED, ERRYBODY DED, IT'S THAT GUY WITH NO FACE WHO MADE US DED'?! Okay I think we're good."

"Gamewise, yes. Mental stability, questionable," Lizzie pipes up.

"Shhhh, am concentrate," Lily replies. "Oh, no. Dead end."

"Guuuurrrrlll, you gon' die," Lizzie says, taking a sip of her soda.

"Wow, Rach, negative much. I'm not gonna die, I'll be fine on my own in this gigantic dark murdertastic forest with no help and an almost-dead – OH LAWD THERE HE IS GOOOOOO!"

This is actually really funny. If she played this on her channel, I'd watch it for sure.

"NONONONO AAAAGGHHH HIS LACK OF FACE OH JESUS HELP ME BUT NOT REALLY STAY IN THE KITCHEN THANKS I'm dead."

"Huzzah! My turn," Lizzie says. She slides into the chair as Lily basically just falls out of it.

She's such a goofball, but I love her anyway.

Wait, what?

**A/N TIME! WOO YEAH! : Hey guys! QD here with the first update I've typed in one sitting in a very long time. You guys have been awesome, as usual, by boosting this story to over 6300 view which is absolutely crazy. And in more exciting news (to me anyway), when you Google 'bajancanadian fanfic' my story shows up! YEAH BUDDY! Anyway, thank you guys for all of your incredible support. I couldn't ask for more amazing readers. Here's the facts!**

**-Pretzels. 'Nough said.**

**-I use different accents and voices A LOT, to the point where it's completely normal for me to be three different people in one conversation. You see, I don't just change my accent, I become a whole new character. Do I have problems? Absolutely. Sorry, but not sorry at all.**

**-Can Your Pet is traumatizing, just in case you've never seen it played or played it yourself.**

**-If I played Slender, it would absolutely sound something like this. I yell a lot when I'm startled. The only different thing is I'd probably accidentally curse more (sorry Mom!).**

**-The BrucemanBatwayne thing is kinda-sorta a reference to the parody musical Holy Musical B man (shout out to my fellow Starkids ;) )**

**-I do wince at Happy Wheels a lot. That game has scarred me multiple times.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I don't actually have that much of an obsession with pretzels.**

**-I'm pretty okay at Happy Wheels, actually.**

**I think that about covers it! As always, don't be afraid to leave a review or a follow or something. You guys are my inspiration. Also, if you want me to check out your stuff, drop me a PM and I'll be glad to read and review. I think that's everything for now, so much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – I seriously love you guys though, like really :)**


	17. Slurp Slurp

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Slurp Slurp

"Well guys, it's been four hours of food, fun, and general insanity. I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to follow GracefulGaming on Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr –"

"Shameless plug," Lizzie coughs.

"And most importantly, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more craziness! Internet hugs for you all. Jenna out!"

"RACHEL IS THE BEST!" Lizzie shouts as I close out the stream. I stretch back in the chair as Lizzie gets off the floor and walks over to the door. I dart out in front of her, yank the door open, and run down the hall into the bathroom.

"GOTTAPEEGOTTAPEEGOTTAPEE!" I've been holding it since morning, which is never a good idea. I hear Mitch laughing in the living room.

"Is she always like this?" he asks Lizzie.

"Yes. You get used to it after awhile," she replies. I emerge from the bathroom, drying my hands on my pants.

"I regret nothing," I say. "So what do y'all want to do?"

"I was just gonna go over to Corrin's dorm. I had a theory question I was gonna bother him with," Lizzie says. She and Corrin are both music minors, where I'm a neuroscience minor.

"Oh. Okay. Well, um, Mitch, d'you wanna see some of the city? – well, really it's a town, but –"

"Sure. I'd love to," Mitch says, smiling at me.

"Great," I say. "Well, I'm gonna go put some real pants on, then we can leave." I never changed out of my lovely orange pants, but I did put on a more bearable sweatshirt. After I put on some jeans and my non-heavy-duty boots, I grab my coat and lead him out the door. He starts heading towards his car, but I shake my head.

"It's only a few blocks. You can walk."

"But MOOOOOOM," he says in a whiny voice.

"No buts. Eat your vegetables and don't make me use your middle names."

"How did you know I had more than one?"

I raise one eyebrow and look at him sideways. "The YouTuber wiki knows all."

"Oh. Right. So where are we headed?" he asks.

"To a coffee shop. I'm thirsty and cold."

"But you just drank a huge cup of chocolate milk like twenty minutes ago," he replies.

"So?"

"We've been walking for five minutes."

"Yeah. So?"

"So that sounds like a good idea," he says, turning to smile at me. I smile back, a weird, fluttery feeling flaring up in the pit of my stomach.

"Well good, 'cause we're here," I say, pulling open the door. A rush of warm air makes me feel all happy, as well as the prospect of coffee. We order our drinks and stand at the end of the counter to wait. I'm still shivering from the short walk, even though I'm not really cold.

"Are you cold?" he asks, moving closer. He hugs me from behind and rests his chin on my shoulder. I stop shivering immediately.

"Not really, but thank you," I say, somewhat quieter than normal. He smiles at me, and we stand like that for a few more minutes. I think once again how glad I am that he's here, and how nice it is to have a friend who's like and older brother (almost). I still find him hot, not gonna lie, but that doesn't factor as much into my attitude towards him as it did before we met.

"Lily?" a barista calls, and I step forward out of Mitch's hug to grab my drink and thank her. I'm here often enough that they know vaguely who I am. Mitch is called a few seconds later. As I go to take a sip, I notice something on the side of cup below my name.

"No way," I say.

"What?" Mitch asks.

"Can I see your cup?" I ask. He extends his hands toward me and I turn the cup so that I can see his name. Sure enough, the same thing is written on his cup as well.

"What's wrong?" he asks. I hold up my cup in response so that he can see what's below my name. His eyes widen.

"No way," he says, checking his own cup. I nod.

"I almost can't believe this," I say, looking at my own cup again. Written in Sharpie underneath both our names is a small message from Stacy, one of the employees I'm familiar with.

_ #Jenja for DAYZ! You guys are such a cute couple :)_

I look over to see her smirking behind the counter. I shake my head. She nods. I shake my head again. She rolls her eyes as if to say _Oooooookay then, whatever helps you sleep at night._

"I had nothing to do with this, I promise," I say to him. He smiles, and hugs me with one arm.

"It's okay, J. Could be worse."

"It can always be worse. At least I'm not Sleeping Beauty."

"What?" he asks, confused. I smile.

"C'mon. I'll explain it as we walk."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I hear Lizzie shout from down the hall, then again a few seconds later on my laptop when the stream ends. The girls come out into hall, and Lily immediately sprints for the bathroom.

"GOTTAPEEGOTTAPEEGOTTAPEE!" she says. I laugh.

"Is she always like this?" I ask Lizzie.

"Yes. You get used to it after awhile," she replies. Lily comes out a few seconds later, wiping her hands on her sweatpants. We decide to go out and see the town a little bit while Lizzie goes over to Corrin's. After about five minutes, Lily emerges with "real pants" and we head out. It only takes us a couple minutes to get to the coffee shop. We order our stuff and wander over to the end of the counter. The shop is fairly crowded, and from the way Lily's acting it doesn't look like we'll be staying long. She shivers as she stares off into space, even though the walk was only a few minutes.

"Are you cold?" I ask. I move over to her and hug her from behind to warm her up, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Not really, but thank you," she replies just loudly enough for me to hear. We stand that way until the barista calls for Lily's drink. It's nice to be here. I recorded plenty for the time I'm here, so I don't have to worry about that. Maybe later we can record a little bit, we haven't had a chance to lately. I've never really had anyone like her before, a girl who's a friend but also kind of my sister but also kinda attractive. She gives nice hugs, anyway. Speaking of hugs, Lily steps out of mine as she gets her drink. A few seconds later, my name is called, and I grab the cup. I take one sip before Lily speaks.

"No way," she says, staring at her cup.

"What?" I ask. I don't see anything wrong. This coffee is pretty good, even if it's not an icecap.

"Can I see your cup?" she asks. I hold it out so that she can see it, but I don't have to let the toasty warm cup go. She twists it so that she can see my name, and her eyes widen.

"What's wrong?" I ask, expecting there to be a penis drawn on my cup or something. She holds up her cup, name towards me. There's a note written below it.

_#Jenja for DAYZ! You guys are such a cute couple :)_

Well. I don't know if this is better or worse than a dick on my coffee. The same message is written on my cup.

"No way."

"I almost can't believe this," she says, looking at her own cup again. She looks over at the barista, and the two of them have a silent exchange that I don't really pick up on. I guess it's a girl thing.

"I had nothing to do with this, I promise," she says. I smile and give her a one-armed hug.

"It's okay, J. Could be worse," I reply.

"It can always be worse. I could be Sleeping Beauty," she says.

"What?" I ask. That makes absolutely no sense.

"C'mon," she says. "I'll explain it as we walk." She leads the way to the door and back into the frosty outside world. It's warmer here than in Montreal, but that's not saying much. Snow is piled high everywhere but the sidewalk, and more is drifting down lightly while we walk.

"So, Sleeping Beauty," she begins. "In one of the older versions of the story, she isn't woken up by true love's kiss by a prince. Instead, she's raped by a passing king and gives birth to twins in her sleep. As if that wasn't bad enough, when she eventually wakes up, the king comes back and explains to her what's up. He promised to take her back to his kingdom, but went back without her. The king's wife got her to send her kids to the kingdom, where she wanted to kill them and make her husband eat them. Luckily, the cook saved them, but then when Sleeping Beauty came to the kingdom the wife tried to burn her alive."

"I – wow," I say. Not many other words for that.

"Don't worry, the wife ends up getting burned alive instead, and they all live happily ever after. It just takes them awhile," she replies, smiling innocently.

"I will never see Disney the same way."

"Oh, you shouldn't. Do you wanna hear the real story of Rapunzel?" she asks.

"Do I?"

"Do you?"

"I don't know, do I?" I ask. I can see her getting annoyed.

"I'm not playing your games, senor. I CANNOT BE CONTROLLED!" she runs ahead a few feet as if to prove her point, then stops and waits for me.

"So where are we going?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Infinity and beyond."

"So… you don't know?"

"Exactly. Want to hear about Rapunzel?" she asks again.

I sigh, fake-exasperated.

"Well, it all started when this one pregnant lady got real bitchy with her husband…"

She is definitely the oddest little sister I never had.

**A/N TIME! THE BEST TIME! : Hey guys! QD here with another chapter for you beautiful individuals. Before I get too far into this author's note, I just want to let y'all know that I started another story. It's called Ancient Merome, so go check it out if you want. It's really different from this one, both in setting and feels. I have decided that I am the queen of mixed ships, so prepare to have your navies assaulted! Get it? Ship? Navy? I'm not funny, but I'm still laughing. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you guys as usual for all of your lovely support. We're way over a hundred reviews now, which is absolutely insane. You guys have signal-boosted this story to over 7300 views, which is just mind-blowing. Much luv to all of you beautiful individuals! Here's the facts:**

**-I'm not proud of it, but I have on many occasions run to the bathroom yelling 'gotta pee.'**

**-The YouTube wiki really does know a creepy amount about these people. Just one look at Mitch's page and you will understand.**

**-I tend to shiver after I'm cold, but not during. I don't know why.**

**-My friend once gave her name as Jesus when we got Starbucks.**

**-'At least I'm not Sleeping Beauty' is a phrase my friends and I use relatively often.**

**-I looked up Sleeping Beauty on Wikipedia for this. The story I told is accurate to one version of it. Yay! Research!**

**And the fictions:**

**-I probably wouldn't let someone hug me like that in public for very long without expecting consequences of the same type.**

**-I think it probably goes without saying that I am misrepresenting Mitch (I'm sorry Benja!).**

**I think that about wraps it up for this chapter. As always, don't be afraid to PM me. I love hearing your voices! I also have a poll up as to some content that I might put out in the future, so go vote plz! Keep up the reviewing, following, etc. and whatnot because you guys are my inspiration, my motivation, anything that ends in –ation you're probably it. Much luv and Internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – Don't forget to check out Ancient Merome *shameless plug over***


	18. Jenja

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: #Jenja

We spent just a little over half an hour wandering around downtown, before deciding that it was too cold. We made the trek back to the apartment in about ten minutes. By then, my nose was practically sprinting from the cold. (Get it? Running? Sprinting? I'm laughing.) We threw our coats and shoes and stuff by the door and shuffled into the kitchen, where I grabbed the hot chocolate mix.

"Water or milk?" I ask, grabbing the jug of skim from the fridge.

"Milk," Mitch replies.

"My man," I say. "Lizzie always wants hers with water."

"Gross."

"I know, right?" I pour the milk into my favorite owl mug and put it in the microwave. "Mugs are in there," I say, motioning towards the cabinet. "Grab whichever one you want." Lizzie and I made it a policy that no two of our mugs match, and everyone that visits regularly gets their own mug. Suffice it to say, we go through a lot of hot chocolate. Mitch just happens to pick out our "guest" mug, a bright red one with a T. rex on it.

"I trust you can make your own?" I ask, sliding the jug down the counter to where he's perched.

"Well yeah, J. In Benja we trust, remember?" he smiles and pours his milk.

"Ah, yes. Indubitably," I say in an "mmm yes quite" voice. I don't think there's really any other way to describe it. We both laugh. The microwave dings and I take my now-toasty warm milk out so Mitch can put his in. I stir the powder up into chocolatey goodness and ask Mitch what he wants to do.

"Well, when is Lizzie gonna be back?" he asks. I smirk.

"Oh, probably not till tomorrow morning. She and Corrin's roommate Louis are dating, and she thinks I don't know."

"Oh," he says.

"Corrin slipped up and told me a few weeks ago. I'm just waiting until she tells me so I can hold it over her head for the rest of eternity."

He laughs. "Well, isn't that nice of you."

"That's just how I roll," I reply. The microwave beeps again and Mitch takes out his milk. I toss him a mix packet thingy and he dumps it in.

"No, but seriously, what do you wanna do? We could record, or stream, or watch movies or waste time on YouTube, we could get you a Tumblr, we could… I don't know. My point is, the possibilities are endless!" I say, throwing my arms out and accidentally smacking my elbow on the cabinet.

"Son of a – MOTHERF – mmmhashavagahaaaaagh," I say, cradling it. Mitch laughs, so I fake pout the way Perrrrston did when he was the only one without chocolate milk.

"Oh sure. Laugh at my pain. Such a great friend."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it if your little noises are hilarious."

"Are not. I'm hurting. This isn't funny."

"Is too."

"Nuh uh," I say, repressing a grin. This is quickly becoming a little-kid argument.

"Yah huh."

"I is hurts."

"Aww, poor baby," he says with SUUUUUPER fake sympathy. "Should I kiss it and make it better?" he asks.

"Yus," I say, holding out my elbow (which has long since stopped hurting) in his direction. He blows a kiss at it.

"All better."

"Nuh uh. You missed," I say.

"Did not. I have aimbot."

"HACKS!" I shout, pointing at him and hopping off the counter. Somehow I manage to land weirdly on my foot and go down quickly. I'm not hurt, just surprised. And maybe a little bit annoyed. I start laughing uncontrollably. Then I make the mistake of glancing at Mitch. It looks like he doesn't know whether to laugh or offer help, which of course makes me laugh even harder.

So here I am, sitting on the floor, laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

I guess I forgot to mention that when I laugh really hard, I sound like a cackling witch. That would explain the confused look on Mitch's face. This realization only makes me laugh harder. It takes a few minutes before I calm down.

"Are you okay?" he asks as I wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Physically, I'm totally fine. Mentally, there is room for debate." He extends his hand and I grab it, using the extra leverage to spring into a standing position. I grab my hot chocolate and turn on my heel, marching down the hall.

"To the bedroom!" I say.

"Why?" Mitch asks suspiciously.

"I just made an executive decision. We're gonna stream for a little bit."

"You know, you're the weirdest person I ever met," he says, following me.

I turn around. "Hell yeah I am. Don't ever forget it."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

After the hot chocolate debacle, she turns around for seemingly no reason and marches out of the kitchen.

"To the bedroom!" she says, disappearing into the hallway. _The bedroom? _I think. Brief images flash through my head of her pressed against me, my lips on her throat, her hands somewhere that feels real good.

_NO, MITCH! SISTER SISTER SISTER!_

"Why?" I ask, falling into step behind her.

"I just made an executive decision. We're gonna stream for a little bit," she replies. _Oh. Streaming. Duh. That makes sense. Silly Mitch. _I think of her on the floor, laughing manically just a minute or so ago.

"You know, you're the weirdest person I ever met," I blurt out before I can really realize what I'm saying. _What if she takes that the wrong way?_

She turns around and smiles brightly. "Hell yeah I am. Don't ever forget it." She walks over to her computer can plops into the beat-up old desk chair as I fall onto the beanbag next to her.

"D'you wanna tweet it out quick? Or maybe make a quickie video to upload to our channels?" she asks, focusing on her screen.

"Sure. I'll grab my laptop quick," I say, and run out to the living room. I set it on the desk next to her monitor and open up the webcam, making sure that Lily's out of the frame.

"Hey, what's going on doods? It's Mitch, OR BajanCanadian, here and we'd just like to tell you that there's gonna be a stream in just a few minutes, around 6 PM EST. It's gonna be up on –"

"MY CHANNEL HAI DOODS!" Lily cuts me off by sideways diving onto my lap so that her legs are still by her chair but her whole torso is pinning down my legs.

" /gracefulhappens! Be there or be square and without a couple hours of Jenja funsiedoodles," she says, smiling.

"Thaaat's right. So we'll see you all there in a few! Take care," I say. Lily gets off and stops the camera, and I upload it directly to Youtube. Lily just tweets it out, and I follow her lead. Within thirty seconds of her tweet, she's got the stream up and running.

"Hey internet! Jenja here!" she says, smiling and waving into the webcam.

"Prepare your bodies," I say.

And then, just like that, we're off.

**HOL' UP HOL' UP IT'S A/N TIME: Hey guys! QD here with another chapter for you! I just wanna start off with an apology. I know this chapter is a little later than usual, but I'm working through some personal stuff at the moment so just bear with me plz. Don't worry, though. There will never be more than a week between updates, I can promise you that much. Secondly, I'm gonna do a thing in the next chapter where Mitch and Lily read a Jenja fanfic during their stream [whoops, sorry, um… SPOILER ALERT?]. If you wanna submit a short #Jenja story of any kind (smut, one-shot, anything) I will be glad to put that in there and give you credit and shoutouts and stuff. Otherwise, I'm just gonna write it myself, and that's no fun. So yeah! Please submit it to me via PM. This is a no-holds-barred, go-for-the-gold sort of thing, and I want to see if I can get some fanfic-ception going on here. Anyway, here's the facts! **

**-I do own an owl mug, and it is my favorite. My friend (and faithful guest reviewer) Queen Elizabeth gave it to me. THANKS CHEETAH SISTAH!**

**-Milk is better in hot chocolate. Deal with it.**

**-I totally say my nose is sprinting, and it's not good.**

**-My friend Forever the Optimist (*cough if you like starkid check her out she is wonderful cough*) will kill me for saying that her OC is dating someone named Louis. Love you co-captain :)**

**-All the clumsy stuff I described? Yeah. That's actually happened. Hi.**

**-My real, loud laugh does sound like a witch cackle. So much so, in fact, that once while I was laughing my friend asked if she could have a ride on my broomstick. Which, of course, only made me laugh harder. I don't think I ever gave her an answer.**

**-Props to you if you got the Perrston reference. I make that face a lot.**

**-That's my real Twitch account. I don't stream, though. I tried once and I got 12 fps and no audio playing Happy Wheels.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I don't own a T. rex mug. Sad face.**

**-Probably wouldn't have an actual tower computer in a college apartment.**

**I think that about wraps it up! As always, don't forget to review, follow, favorite, etc. Also, submit your mini-fics to me and maybe see them in a story! YAY! Don't forget to check out the poll I have up, as it concerns future content [insert evil author smile]. You beautiful individuals have put this story at almost 8900 views, which is mind-blowgling (mind-blowing plus –boggling). Y'all are the best readers a writer could ever hope for :) Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – if you ever want me to do something for you or even just want to talk, PM me! I'm here for you guys. Always.**

**PPS – for approximately the bajillionth time: Mitch, I am very sorry that I'm misrepresenting you. At least you're not married yet :)**


	19. The Bajanator

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Bajanator

"What shall we of the playing first?" I ask Mitch in a Russian/Transylvanian/Confused-Eastern-European accent. I cut him off as soon as he opens his mouth to speak.

"Happy Wheels it is!" I say, and open up the game. He pouts while I wait for the game to load.

"You mad, bro?" I ask, smirking.

"No, just –"

"Butthurt."

"No," he says, pulling on his hood strings and contracting the fabric around his face.

"You are. You're a butthurt turtle."

"Am not."

"Well, it doesn't matter now because the GAME IS LOADED! RENAISSANCE RAVAGER GO!" I say, clicking on one of the default levels. I play for about twenty minutes, then turn the computer over to Mitch. I steal his laptop and go on Twitter to check the Jenja tag.

"Hey, Mitch, they're telling us to read a fanfic aloud," I say. He raises an eyebrow, but doesn't turn towards me.

"Is that safe?" he asks. I consider it for a second.

"Probably not."

"Well then no."

"And by no, you mean absolutely, right?"

"I –" he starts to reply, but I cut him off.

"Have you ever watched one of the old 'Jenna Unplugged' streams from, like, two years ago? Because then you would know. I am not a safe person."

"What exactly does the term 'unplugged' mean?"

"No rules, no censoring, three in the morning. I recorded them so I could upload them later. Most people haven't seen them unless they're a super-duper hardcore fan 'cause they're like three hours long each and there's about… fifteen, I think? I don't know."

"I see. I don't think I've seen those," he says. I almost mention that they're pretty similar to his old bYd podcasts on ASF, but then I remember that he doesn't wanna deal with all the #ReviveASF stuff. I can't blame him. If they did "revive" ASF, it wouldn't be the same. Their audience is too young now; they wouldn't be able to be themselves as much as they used to.

"Well, in that case, I will find the most poorly written one-shot possible and read it as dramatically as I can," I say. It takes me two seconds to Google "Jenja fanfiction" and I get thousands of results. Only a few more seconds gets me to a suitably crappy one.

"Okay, now, I'll have to adjust for lack of punctuation here, but I'm gonna say everything how it looks. In other words, I'm gonna pronounce EVERY SINGLE SPELLING ERROR, so prepare your bodies."

"YESSSSSS!" Mitch yells, clapping. "BEAT THE LEVEL! YOU SUCK, MR. SEGWAY MAN!"

I clear my throat. "_Christmas Morning_, by… I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce this username. The amount of numbers in it is TOO DAMN HIGH.

"_It was a dark and stromy –"_

"Stro-mee?" Mitch asks.

"Yes. Now shush."

"Sorry."

"No you're not."

"Yeah, I'm not."

"Anyway… _It was a dark and STROMY night, and Jena – _oh my god, they spelled my name wrong – _Jena sat strait up – _WRONG KIND OF STRAIGHT YA DINGUS – _strait up in bed which wake_ – WAKE? DO YOU EVEN GRAMMAR BRO? – _wake up Mitch. "Whats wrong" he says and sits up too. "I'm in labor" Jena says. _WAIT WHAT? LABOR? WHAT THE – you know what, I don't even care, this was a bad idea, I'm done. You can take over Twitter."

"But I just started playing," he says. I roll my eyes.

"Fine. But I'm gonna find a smutty one then."

"A what?" he asks.

"Oh, trust me, you'll see. I think I'll find a Merome one, just to make it even better." It only takes me a few seconds to find one. "This one's called _Power Moves Only, _by… I can't pronounce this one either. Oh, this one is much better written." I clear my throat and begin.

"I think I'm gonna start in the middle of this one… ooh, here's a good place. _His chocolate eyes went straight to the taller American, roaming his skin. They –"_

"Wait, are they talking about me checking out Jerome?"

"Yes. Now, for the love of peanut butter, shut your goddang mouth and let me read you the tale of my people. _They fell upon a black patch when they wandered downwards, and Mitch had to prop himself up on his elbows to be able to see it properly. There was a writing engraved into Jerome's hip. It read… Power moves only._"

"Is that the end?" he asks.

"Well, unless you want me to read aloud you getting things in your butt aloud to… 8,000 people, yes it is. Do you want me to continue?"

"Nope. Nope. Nope, I think we're good."

"Okay, continue it is. _Mitch blinked in confusion for a few seconds. But then, almost like the gears in his brain moved, he burst out laughing. He laughed so much –"_

"J," Mitch says in a warning tone. I continue, starting to laugh.

"_—so much that he had to hold his stomach because his sides hurt. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. As he went to wipe them, his wrists were grabbed and pinned to the mattress. "Mn?" he let out a confused sound, looking up at the scowling Jerome. The American was glaring at him as he pinned both of Mitch's wrists above his head with one hand—"_

Mitch cuts me off by sideways tackling me from off the chair like I did in our little intro video. I start laughing, both from his tactic and at his timing. It was just about to get reeeeeaaaal smutty up in here, if you know what I need.

"Meeeeeeeetch, it was just getting gooooooood," I whine. Luckily, the webcam can still see us.

"Yeah, well, now you can play Happy Wheels, ya JERK!" he says.

"Y'know, I would, but there's a person on my lap. This must be what it's like at Jerome's house."

"You're such a bitch," he mumbles into the floor.

"Don't you ever forget it. You can change games if you want, I'll stop reading the story."

He pulls up Minecraft (surprise, surprise) and we start up the real stream again.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

After her harassing me with that Merome story (I've actually read that one before, but… THAT DOESN'T MATTER), I start playing on the Hive. I decide to play Hide and Seek in honor of the first Skype call we ever had. The nature of the game gives us a perfect opportunity to answer some questions.

"'Jenna, what are your top five favorite things EVER?' Well, JigglyButtNuggets20399, I would have to say –" she starts.

"Whoa whoa whoa, just you? I feel excluded."

"Good. You should. AS I WAS SAYING before Mr. BajanCanadian interrupted me, my top five favorite things ever are probably, in no particular order… um… well… skittles, ice cream, piggyback rides… having my hair brushed by someone else, and my viewers, obviously," she says.

"WOOOOOOOWW, good guy Jenna over here."

"Yes is me hello! Oh, here's a good one. What would you family call the other person? My family would probably call you, like, the Bajanator or something lame like that," she says.

"The Bajanator?"

"It's happened before. My family is a bunch of weirdos."

"But the Bajanator?"

"It's easier not to question – dood, oh my god, Grace just texted me," she says, laughing.

"What did she say?"

"That she isn't weird but I'm right."

"I – okay," I say. It really is easier to just not question it. "NOOO I diedz!"

"LOL you are noob sir. Not big surprise," she says in the typical 'not big surprise' voice. I smile.

"Wood stairs too strongk," I say.

"Too strongk to survive. Haha, DARWIN!" she says. "I bet you half these people didn't get that joke," she says.

"Indubitably," I reply. There's a couple seconds of silence.

"You guys have some pretty messed up questions," she says. I lean over to her and she tilts the screen so I can see. About half the questions are asking us whether or not we've screwed yet. Her face starts getting red, and I can feel mine heating up too.

"Oh my god," I say, laughing. Another awkward pause.

"Oh, here's a legit one," she says. And the awkwardness just kinda melts away.

**A/N TIME? ALWAYS, YO! : Hey guys! QD here with another chapter for y'all! This is without a doubt the most awkward chapter I've written yet. No one submitted a Jenja story (sad face), so I started one myself but literally had no idea what to write. And thus, Jenna in labor. The Merome story is an actual story called Power Moves only (it came up when I searched on Google) by FF dot net author kurumaka. Thanks dood! And now for the facts:**

**-I use all the accents mentioned in this chapter more than I probably should.**

**-Renaissance Ravager is a real default level in Happy Wheels.**

**-Someday, I would love to do a "Jenna Unplugged" stream. I would have so much fun. Unfortunately, as I have mentioned approximately three billion times in this story. MY COMPUTER SUCKS.**

**-I watched all the old bYd podcasts recently in approximately… two days? I don't know. But it's around fifteen hours of content… I should get a real life.**

**-That example of Lily reading fanfics is basically just me reading fanfics, except I'm raging quietly in my room instead of reading aloud to eight thousand people.**

**-Those are my top 5 favorite things, except for instead of my viewers I love my readers :)**

**-My mom has a history of giving boys nicknames with the suffix "-anator."**

**-I meant what I said about ASF. It wouldn't be the same if they did bring it back, just because the boys have grown up.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I have no idea if that is an actual Twitch username. I just thought it was funny. (haha potty humor)**

**-There is no way I would read a smutty fic out loud under those circumstances. Half-past not happening, sorry not sorry.**

**I think that about wraps it up! Thank you guys for everything you've done for me. When I saw that this story was over 10,000 views (10,420 as of me checking right now), I legitimately almost cried. You beautiful individuals are seriously the best, and I can't thank you enough. Keep up the reviewing, following, etc. because you guys are my inspiration! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – As usual, I would just like to apologize to Mitch for being bad at writing for him. Probably not reading this, but still, I'm sorry dood!**

**PPS - *cough IT WOULD BE FREAKING AMAZING IF MITCH READ FANFICTIONS IN A STREAM OR A VIDEO SOMETIME JUST SAYING cough cough***


	20. Story Time

CHAPTER TWENTY: Story Time

"So, what do?" I ask. We just wrapped up the stream, after about two hours.

"I don't know," he says, stretching back in my desk chair.

"I'm gonna go eat some ice cream," I say, getting up and heading towards the kitchen. Mitch follows like a lost puppy.

"You're eating ice cream in the middle of winter? You were complaining just like five minutes ago how cold it is in here," he says as he watches me get out a bowl and a soup spoon.

"Ice cream is sacred."

"That bowl is tiny."

"And you're a master of the obvious. Do you want some?"

"What kind is it?" he asks, walking over to the fridge and standing next to me.

"Um… chocolate chip cookie dough."

"Are you sure you're willing to give that up?" he asks, smirking. I stick my tongue out at him and grab an extra spoon. I put the bowl back in the cupboard and throw away the container lid.

"No bowls?"

"There's only, like, a third left. I'm pretty sure that between the two of us we can finish that off."

"Okay, if you say so."

"I know so. D'you wanna watch a movie?"

"Whattaya got?" he asks. I laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You think you have a choice," I reply, smiling. "We're watching El Capitan Dos because Lizzie never wants to watch it and she's not here."

"El Capitan?" he asks.

"Captain America. I don't really know why Belle and I call it that, but it stuck."

"I – okay."

"Here. Go sit down, I'll put in the movie." I hand him the spoons and the ice cream and go over to the console to pop in the DVD. Once it starts playing, I plop down next to him and take a spoon.

"I don't know why I just thought of this, but when I was in high school, my friends and I ran a 'carrot clinic' at lunch," I say.

"Carrot clinic?" he asks, giving me a strange look. I giggle.

"Yep. We – well, I guess really just me – used spoons to cut off the funny-colored parts of carrots. We had a 100% accuracy rate with our diagnoses. Diagnosises? I don't know."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"You're strange."

"Hey, I had a PhD in carrot biology. I was the surgeon, one of my friends was an analyst, one was my lab tech, I had a mortician, a receptionist, AND a vegetable psychologist. Get on my level."

"No thanks."

"You're just jealous of the fact that I diagnosed many carrots with cancer. And gangrene. Once we even had a really gross one that we diagnosed as rabies."

"You're the strangest person I've ever met."

"Yes, but I'm giving you ice cream, so my strangeness is irrelevant," I reply. We sit in silence for awhile, just watching the movie. We get to the point where the creepy senator guy from Iron Man 2 is talking to that one SHIELD official from the boat with the pirates and stuff.

"This guy pisses me off," I say. The empty ice cream carton is sitting on the coffee table, us having finished within ten minutes.

"Why?"

"He's a complete dumbass. What kind of idiot just whispers the name of a secret organization out loud in a crowded environment to someone who may or may not know what he's talking about?"

"This kind."

"Very funny. Seriously though, that would be so creepy."

"It wouldn't be that bad," he replies.

"Yeah?" I say. I hug him (somewhat awkwardly, as I'm sitting next to him on the couch) and as I back away, I grab the back of his neck. I somehow manage to keep a straight face and not break eye contact as I stare at him and whisper "Youtube" very quietly. I withdraw all the way, shake his hand, and turn back towards the movie like nothing ever happened.

"Point taken. He is a dumbass," Mitch says, laughing slightly.

"I should know. My other high school PhD was in Dumbassery."

"Oh my god," he says, laughing. We sit quietly for almost the rest of the movie, until we get to the very end when they're standing around Fury's grave.

"They are so colossally fucked," I say.

"Yep."

"The life of El Capitan is not an easy one."

"Nope." His arm is around me again. We seem to be incapable of watching movies together any other way. Which is totally fine with me. Half the time when I watch movies with Lizzie, I'm practically in her lap from hysterical fangirlyness.

"Mitch, I think he have a problem."

"Yeah?"

"I wanna watch another movie, but I don't wanna get up. Do you see my dilemma?"

"The struggle is real."

"The struggle is more real than The Winter soldier's metal arm."

"The struggle is more real than Jerome's nose," Mitch says.

"That's pretty real."

"I know. I have a Phd in reality."

"Oh. Well, in that case, Dr. Hughes, what are we going to do about the struggle that is more real than Jerome's nose?" I ask.

"Well, Dr. Ross, I think that, um, we should… consult someone else."

"Magic Conch or Helix Fossil?"

"Both."

"That requires getting up, though. Are you suggesting that we solve our problem by solving our problem, Dr. Hughes?" I ask.

"Yes…? Yes. Absolutely."

"But I don't wanna," I say, slinging my legs over his lap and curling farther into him. He yawns.

"Me either," he says, bringing his other arm up to close me in a hug. We stay in that position for a few minutes, me almost in his lap.

"You're really too big for this, you know that, right?" he asks.

"Preposterous. That would be logical."

"Oh. Right. My bad," he replies. More silence.

"Tell me a story," he says.

"A real life story or a made-up one?"

"Real life."

"Hmm… Alright," I say. "How about the story of the one time in my life ever that I was grounded?" I ask. It's not all that interesting, but it's kinda funny.

"You've only been grounded once?" he asks, looking at me incredulously.

"Yep," I smile. "Want to hear why?"

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I can't believe she's only been grounded once. How does one be a teenager and only be grounded once?

"I was… I dunno, six or seven maybe, and my sister and I were over at my neighbors' house. There were two of them, a boy who was a week older than me and a girl who was a couple of years older. She started kinda beating up on him, and my sister and I joined in because we were terrible evil senseless children. One thing led to another, and… I bit him," she says, laughing.

"You WHAT?!" I ask, my eyes widening.

"I bit him. On the shoulder."

"Why?! Why would you do that?" I ask.

"I don't know. I was six. 'Rational decision' was not in my vocabulary."

"How hard did you bite him?"

"Hard enough to make him cry."

"You little bitch," I say, laughing.

"Yeah. His dad yelled at me to go home, and then my parents grounded me for a week. I had to formally apologize. It was not one of the brighter moments in my life, I can say that much."

"I – oh my god. That was not what I expected."

"It sucked even more because it was summer, and all I did during the summer when I was little was play outside with my neighbors."

"How did you not get grounded again?" I ask.

"Well," she begins, " A) I was a well-behaved child unlike some people, B) grounding me would have had no effect because I just stayed in my room all day anyway. It would have been a punishment if I'd been forced to, like, go out and talk to one new person each day."

"You are a strange, strange human being," I say.

"Don't you ever forget it," she says. She yawns and settles her head more comfortably on my chest. There's a couple more minutes of silence.

"Tell me another story," I say.

"Why don't you tell me a story?" she asks.

"All my good stories are ones I've already told during bYd podcasts and streams and stuff," I reply. She's probably seen all those already.

"And you're just assuming I've seen all of those? I have a life, you know."

"Yes," I reply.

"Okay. Just checking. Do you want to hear a made-up story or a real story?"

I think about it for a second. "Real one."

"Any specific topic in mind?" she asks. I think for another couple seconds.

"How about the story of your first kiss?" I ask. She smiles.

"I'll do you one better. How about the story of my first boyfriend?"

"If you wanna, J," I reply. I've just started calling her J all the time 'cause it's easier.

"Why not? I don't know where I should start… um… I guess I'll start the summer after my sophomore year of high school, when I met him.

"We met during a student-run musical revue thing the theatre people in my town do every summer. It was both of our first years. That's not important, I don't know why I said it. ANYWAY, we never really talked until the final week before our shows, but we spent most of those rehearsals together. To give you an idea of how much time that is, our normal rehearsal were two hours long. For the last week, it starts out with about twelve hours of rehearsal on Sunday –"

"Twelve hours? Are you serious?" I ask. How can you do something for twelve straight hours? Especially something like performing that takes so much energy? Holy crap.

"Yeah. Twelve hours. It didn't stop there, either. For the three or four nights after that until our show, we had six-hour rehearsals every night. And then with our shows, we were there for about four hours. It was semi-painful, but it provided a great opportunity to get to know someone.

"He went to a school one town over, so I didn't see him on a daily basis during the year. At this point, he had a girlfriend still. We kept in touch every couple days until February, when I saw him at one of my forensics meets. He'd confessed that he had a crush on me back in August, but he still had a girlfriend, so that never mattered much. When I saw him again in February, it kind of just… changed everything. Like, literally everything."

"So then you started dating?" I ask. I'm having some trouble following her story.

"No, not then. We started talking a lot more, but now the whole romantic thing was a lot more obvious. It was weird, but not necessarily a bad weird. Just, like, a new weird. I gave him my address for whatever reason. That was my first big mistake."

"Why?"

"Because he showed up randomly at my house, with no warning whatsoever. When I was doing homework. It was really weird. We talked for like half an hour – well he talked, I listened – and then he left. And I finished my homework."

"He just showed up at your house?" I ask.

"Yep."

"No warning?"

"None. Can I continue my story now?" she asks.

"Sorry. Go ahead." This story is getting weirder by the minute.

"So. That happened two more times –"

"Two more times?!" I interject.

"Yes. Pay attention. That happened two more times, and on the third time he showed up at my house randomly when I needed to do homework, he asked me to go to prom with him."

"So what did you say?" I ask.

"I told him to give me a few days."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to go. Like, REALLY didn't want to go. I wasn't gonna go to prom at all until he asked me. Prom just isn't my idea of a good time. I did say yes eventually though. Everyone seemed really happy about it."

"Except you?"

"Except me. I went to his prom, not mine, and it remains among the worst three hours of my life. There were less than forty people in a tiny gym. I didn't know anyone, and to be perfectly honest I didn't really like him at that point."

"I'm… sorry?" I say, not sure what the appropriate response is.

"Nah, it's okay. He took me home, and that's when I got my first kiss. I've never been so underwhelmed in my life."

"If you didn't like him, why did you kiss him?" I ask. She is just making less and less sense.

"A forensics bet that I never technically accepted and he never technically won. He suggested that I had to give him a kiss if he got a higher score than me at a forensics meet, and if I got a better score he had to give me a piggyback ride."

"A piggyback ride?"

"I love piggyback rides. Don't judge me. Anyway, I won the first two meets, and we tied at the last one. To this day, he still owes me two piggyback rides. That's not part of the story though."

"There's more?" I ask. This is more in-depth than I thought.

"Ohhhh, you bet. I'm even sparing you some details. I told you I'd tell you the story of my first boyfriend, remember?"

"Oh. Right. My bad. Go on." This is gonna take awhile, I can tell.

"I didn't talk to him for, like, a week afterwards. I started having anxiety attacks whenever I heard a car door shut outside my house because I thought it was him and I'd have to tell him that I didn't like him as a boyfriend anymore. It was really bad 'cause he really, really liked me. It didn't help my case that he was literally the first guy to ever be anything other than a friend or a relative.

"I ended up sending him a video to tell him how I felt. I think it was "I Would Never" by Garfunkel and Oates. To give you an idea of how THAT went, the chorus starts with "I would never have sex with you" and just… yeah."

"I don't even know how to respond to that," I say. She has to be one of the most socially awkward people I've ever loved.

Wait, what?

"Neither did he. He told me that when he showed it to his counselor, he said it was the most unique way of friendzoning he'd ever seen."

"He showed it to his counselor?" I ask.

"Yeah," she replies. "I guess I messed him up pretty good. His mom and his girlfriend messaged his friends from the summer show to come to his birthday bonfire about three weeks later. I couldn't go because I was busy with auditions and casting for the next year's show."

"Wait, he still had a girlfriend?" I am totally confused.

"Apparently. He told me they were on a break, but when she messaged us, she introduced herself as his girlfriend, so…. I dunno. Anyway, my junior year of school got out, and we were both in the summer show again. I was the choreographer, but that doesn't really matter. I'm just proud of that. We didn't really talk for most of the summer, because I'd moved on and he clearly hadn't. I'd occasionally wonder why I let him go, but most of the time I was convinced I made the right choice.

"On the day of our final show, at the cast party after strike –"

"Strike?"

"Theater term. It's when we take down the set and clean up and stuff."

"Oh." This is way more complicated and in-depth than I expected.

"Anyway, at the cast party, he cornered me on my way out the door and asked me for another chance. I took a second, then said yes. I mean, why not?

"Let me tell you, it didn't take me long to remember why not. I became really stressed, always trying to be who he needed while still doing all my homework, plus doing the fall musical, plus making videos. I was just… waiting, I guess. To fall in love. By the time I did, it was… I dunno, mid-April, maybe? I was in a relationship for over six months without getting anything out of it. but eventually, I did. There was one summer where everything was great. We were in the show together, and it was just… nice. And then I moved here for college and he stayed in Wisconsin. We tried a long-distance relationship, but it just kind of faded into nothing after awhile. I haven't spoken to him in a year and a half, ever since he told me that he'd gotten a new girlfriend exactly one year after we started dating."

"Aw, that sucks, J. I'm sorry," I say. And I mean it. One boyfriend her entire life, and he screws her over. That just sucks.

"I'm over it by now." She laughs. "Sometimes I refer to that relationship as 'The Waiting Game.' Because I waited to feel more, then I waited to feel less. But whatever, I've moved on. And that's my story. Hooray."

"That's quite a story," I say. Because it is. No other way to put it.

"I've never told it during a stream, and I never will."

"Why not?"

"I don't want my fans to think that you should settle for your only option."

"Oh," I say. We sit in silence for awhile, maybe five or ten minutes.

"Tell me a story," I say. I could listen to her talk about her life all night.

And then, somehow, I do. I carry her to her room around midnight for the second night in a row. She's actually asleep this time. I think. I walk over to Lizzie's room and flop on her bed, my thoughts on Lily's past as I black out.

**IT'S A/N TIME, YEAH YEAH! : Hey guys! QD here, and may I just say OH MY GOD. This is the longest chapter I've ever typed in my life, at about 3,000 words. You beautiful individuals have put this story at 43 views over 13k, which is utterly astounding to me. I love all of you guys so much! I wish there was more I could do, but all I'm able to do is say thank you so much. That said, on to the facts!**

**-I do cram ice cream into a tiny bowl so I can feel like I'm limiting myself. Yup.**

**-That carrot clinic thing? Yeah, it's real. My good friend Forever the Optimist is my analyst, with and extended PhD in matriarchy. If you want to know what that means, take it up with her. Love you girl!**

**-Most of friends don't like the Avengers like I do. Sadness.**

**-I really do hysterically fangirl on peoples' laps. **

**-The grounding story is true. I was a weird child.**

**-Grounding would have no effect on me. I stay in my room all the time anyway, and only come out to eat or type. Hooray.**

**-The boyfriend story is also true up to a certain point. I'm just about to go into my second year of the summer show as one of the choreographers, which I'm super excited for. Don't worry, though! I'll still have plenty of time to update my stories :) I'm currently not speaking to the boy in question, and the mere thought of talking to him and making the whole situation worse makes me really depressed.**

**Moving on, here's the fictions:**

**-The friendzone does not exist. If you want to argue that, take it up with me in a PM :)**

**-One does not simply consult BOTH the Helix Fossil AND the Magic Conch. Period.**

**I think that sums it up! As always, don't forget to review, follow, etc. because you beautiful individuals are my inspiration. Y'all mean the world to me, and have made me almost-cry happy tears on many occasions. I'm always happy to hear from you guys if you want me to read your stories, so don't be afraid to send me PMs. Thank you for everything you've done! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – as always, Mitch, I'm sorry. *whispers * **hey it'd still be cool if you read fanfictions in a video or stream or something

**PPS – If you also follow my Merome story, I'll hopefully be able to update that this week, otherwise it's probably not gonna happen until after my school gets out on June 10****th****.**


	21. Jenna Unplugged

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Jenna Unplugged

"Don't die," I say, releasing him from our hug and smiling.

"No promises," Mitch replies, grinning back.

"Bye, Mitch," I reply. He smiles in return and walks down the hall to the stairway. I shut my door and walk over to the window. I watch him drive away, thinking about the past two days.

After I told him another story (the story of when my friends pulled a no-pants prank in orchestra), we both passed out on the couch. I woke up an hour later and walked to my bed after fixing him so that he was lying down and had a blanket and everything.

I might have kissed his forehead a little bit. Maybe. That's not important.

Lizzie came back the next morning, but the rest of the day and the day after passed in a blur of recording, movie watching, and just general hanging out. I have to say, it was really, really nice. I didn't even mind that he finished off 65 percent of the cereal in our house.

Later today, after I pack, I'll be leaving to drive back to Wisconsin. It's a six hour drive, so I should probably drink a lot of coffee. I sit on the counter with a fresh cup, my second of the morning.

Here goes nothing.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I flop face-first on the hotel bed, exhausted after a long day of driving. I was on the road for… I don't even know how long. Right now, I'm in Almost-Pennsylvania, Ohio. I don't know the actual name of the town; I just know that I'm less than ten miles from the state line.

I decide to watch some of the old streams Lily mentioned. I'm too tired to really do anything but stay in bed. I shower and put on my pajamas, then climb into the warm blankets with my laptop. I search 'jenna unplugged' and a bunch of videos come up. I click on the one titled "Jenna Unplugged: Uncensored Adventure #1" by GracefulGaming. It's three hours long, so I untangle my headphones and settle in for a long night.

"Oh, I'm live. Hello, my bitches. Let's begin. I've had about three Mountain Dews in the past hour and it's three in the morning and I'm the only one in the house. LET'S DO THIS!" she says. Her facecam shows her wearing her glasses and an ancient-looking pair of headphones.

"SON OF A MOTHER SHIT BRICK –" she spits out a long string of swears as she dies for the millionth time while playing a rope swing in Happy Wheels. It's about an hour into the video, and at this point I'm not even fazed anymore when she curses out the segway guy.

"I SWEAR TO PEANUT BUTTER THAT I WILL SHOVE YOUR FREAKING SEGWAY SO FAR UP YOUR ASS IT WILL SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY FROM THE OTHER END, YOU UNHOLY SON OF A DIRT-TASTING MICROWAVE," she says forcefully.

She dies again.

"MOTHERFU—" There she goes again. I giggle at her pain as she dies again.

"That's it. I'm done. See you guys later. I'm out," she says. She pulls off her headphones and walks over to the door behind her. I notice a that her hair was a lot longer back then, and it had a blonde patch on one side that started about halfway down. I resolve to ask her about it later. She walks back over to the desk and takes another sip of her fifth Mountain Dew.

"Seriously though, I gotta pee super badly. I'm-a go whack a piss, see you guys in a minute." She walks away and out the door. 'Whack a piss?' What? I decide to start making a list of all the things I need to ask her about. So far I've got her hair and her phrases.

"NEVER FEAR, I'M BACK BITCHES," she says, plopping back down in her chair and putting her headphones on. She keeps trying the level, and finally beats it after only two more tries.

"YESSSSSSS! TAKE THAT YOU LIL BUTT BRICK! YOU SUCK I DON'T SO SCREW YOUR MOM!" she yells, throwing her arms in the air victoriously. She transitions that into whatever that one dance is called when you pretend you're holding a stick horizontally and bring it in a circle. Her headphones fall off, bringing her hair into her face.

"Now that I've exited rope swing HELL, let's play something else. Like… umm… ooh, I know! Let's play BOOKWORM ADVENTURES!" she exits out of Happy Wheels and brings up an ancient-looking game with a green worm and Scrabble-type tiles.

"New player… let's name him Jiggly Butter. Oh, shoot, too many characters. Um… let's change the spelling. Jigly Butr. Perfect. LEZZ GOOOOO!" And she begins. It's the type of game I would normally watch, but her commentary makes it at least bearable.

"KNOWLEDGE, MADDAFAKKA," she says, taking out a boss in one word. "GET SOME." The time melts away. Before I know it, I've watched almost the whole video.

"Holy shit it's almost six," she says in a voice that doesn't sound surprised at all. She yawns, making me yawn as well. She stretches back in her chair, exposing a few inches of pale stomach.

"I should sleep. I'm gonna sleep. Good night." The stream ends abruptly. I sit there for a second, then check the time. Too late to watch another, but I don't feel like sleeping. I decide to watch Ashley's videos. The sound of her voice calms me down, and I fall asleep listening to her.

When I wake up the next morning, my first thought is that I'm gonna see Ashley in just a few weeks. My second is about the amount of driving I have to do today. My third is about the nearest source of cereal.

After breakfast, packing, etc., I start out on the road again. I reach my parents' house about four hours later, where Connor tackles me as soon as I walk in the front door. The rest of my family is tamer in their greetings. I get my stuff put where it belongs and still have some time left before dinner. I get about an hour into "Jenna Unplugged: Uncensored Adventure #2" before Connor comes barreling in to tell me it's dinnertime.

It's weird how much her unplugged streams are like the bYd podcast I used to do. Guess it's just another thing we have in common.

**A/N TIME! AWWWWW YEEEAH! : Hey guys! QD here with an update for you! Sorry that this one is shorter, but I needed to advance the plot a bit and wasn't sure how to get that done. Thank you guys so much for the 15k (67 away from 16k!) views! You guys are amazing and fabulous and I couldn't ask for better readers because there AREN'T ANY. If you follow my Merome story, I will hopefully have that updated by Friday June 6****th****. Next week is the six-month anniversary of this story (June 11****th****), so I will hopefully be able to make a special extra-extra long chapter. It's the day after school gets out for me, so I'll hopefully be able to typey-type mah little fingers off and get that up on time. That being said, here are the facts!**

**-If I ever do get a YouTube channel, uncensored streams would definitely be a thing. Sorry Mom.**

**-I live in Wisconsin, and the college that I'm planning to attend is about six hours from my hometown.**

**-I would definitely have kissed his forehead, because I'm just a maternal person. I try to "mother" everyone, but it's very questionable that I will have kids. Responsibility scares me.**

**-All weird phrases used are ones that I use. Yep.**

**-Two years ago, my hair was really long with a blonde chunk on one side. The blonde chunk is a story for another time. I cut off about thirteen inches of my hair right before starting school this year, and now I'm growing it out again.**

**-I do play Bookworm Adventures, and I love it. If I get a YouTube channel, I will absolutely record it.**

**-My friends did once pull a no-pants prank. If you want to know the story, just PM me and I'll tell you.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I would not be able to drink that many Mountain Dews in that amount of time, tired or not. My capacity for liquids is not so high.**

**-I probably would not be capable of streaming for 3 hours, nor would I have an empty house for that amount of time at 3 AM.**

**I think that about covers it! As always, thank you guys for reading, reviewing, etc. because you beautiful individuals make my day all the time. Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS – I wrote a Mashley one-shot if y'all want to read it. To be perfectly honest, it's super lame, but I would appreciate a read anyway :3**

**PPS – The one-shot poll is still up on my profile, so go vote if you haven't yet. Much thanks :)**


	22. Happy New Year

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Happy New Year

"Be right back, guys," I say, walking down the hall to my room. Lizzie, Corrin, and a few of my other friends are at our apartment for New Year's Eve. It's almost midnight, and I want to take a picture right when the ball drops. I scrounge around my desk for my camera, which is apparently buried under an entire semester's worth of paper. Just as I find it, my computer dings.

"What in the..." I say, turning to check it. It's a Skype call from Jerome.

Hmm. Okay. This is kind of a weird time, but whatever. I answer it, expecting the unexpected.

"JEROME SHE PICKED UP," Mitch yells. I wince and turn down my volume.

"Hi Mitch," I say, laughing slightly. Jerome stumbles in wearing a pair of 2015 glasses.

"Hey Jerome," I say.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!" they shout.

"Happy New Year," I reply, smiling. "You guys are hella drunk right now, aren't you?"

"HELL YEAH!" They shout together. I wince again.

"Y'all motherfuckers are loud," I say.

"Sorry," Mitch whispers. Jerome suddenly looks very distressed, grabbing Mitch's shirt.

"Dood. DOOD. I gotta go find Louise. It's almost midnight, I gotta kiss her," he says. He stumbles out of the room into the semidark beyond.

"Don't impale her with your nose," I say just a few seconds too late. Mitch laughs overly hard.

"That was funny," he says.

"Funny enough that you'd piss your pants?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he says.

"Well, you did, so…"

"No I didn't."

"Mitch, look at your pants," I say, eyeing the dark spot on his jeans and laughing.

"Oh. Well, fuck me."

"Someone will, I guarantee it," I say. I hear Lizzie calling my name from the living room.

"Be right there!" I call back. I turn my attention back to the computer. "Hey, be careful tonight, okay? Don't do anything stu- OH FOR THE LOVE OF PANCAKES, MITCH!"

"What?" he says from the corner, where he is partway through taking off his pants.

"WHAT THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"

"I peed myself, so I'm changing my pants. Jerome keeps extra pants in here."

"You're just… I… okay. Whatever. Be careful. Have fun. I gotta go."

"But-"

"Kiss Ashley. Kiss Jerome. Kiss everyone but don't get diseases. LOVE YOU BYE," I say, ending the call before he can react. I grab my camera and run out to the living room just in time to snap a picture of everybody else kissing someone as fireworks go off on the TV. Corrin wanders out of the bathroom a few seconds later.

"Happy New Year," he says, punching me playfully.

"Happy New Year," I reply, kicking him back weakly. I lean against the wall and try to ignore the feelings of loneliness threatening to replace my holiday enthusiasm.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I don't remember much about New Year's Eve. The few things that do come back are kinda hazy. I remember hugging Ashley a lot and just being really glad that she was there. I remember wanting to kiss her at midnight and then chickening out. I also remember calling Lily a few minutes before to wish her a happy New Year. That's actually the last thing I remember before I woke up this afternoon on Jerome's bedroom floor. In his pants.

I really hope I didn't do anything I'll regret.

I wander out to the kitchen, stepping over various passed-out people. I scrounge around the cabinets, trying to find cereal.

"Ohhhh yes," I say when I finally find the right one. "Come to papa."

"Found what you're looking for?" a voice says from behind me. I jump, startled.

"Yeah," I say, grabbing a box and turning around. "Want some?" I say, shaking the box in Ashley's direction.

"Nah, I'm good," she says. "Already ate like an entire package of Oreos."

I laugh. Her accent is so fricking cute.

"Breakfast of Champions," I say, finding a bowl.

"Breakfast of Champions," she repeats. I turn around and grab the milk from the fridge.

"So I have to ask," I say, turning back and shutting the door. Ashley's eyes flick up like she was caught checking out my ass and I repress a smile. She stops biting her lip and asks me what.

"Did I do anything too reckless last night?" I ask. She laughs.

"Well, if you count tying your pants to a broom and waving them like a piss-stained flag as reckless, then yes," she says, giggling. I facepalm.

"I really did that?" I ask, looking at her through my fingers.

"No. But you did drag your pants very conspicuously through the living room about half an hour after midnight."

"I am so sorry you had to see that," I say, my cheeks heating up.

"I'm not. It was funny." We lapse into silence, me eating my cereal and her staring out the window. I get about halfway through the bowl before she talks again.

"Louise put the smackdown on Jerome last night," she says.

"Really? Why?"

"He was getting a little friendly in front of everyone."

"Oh. That makes sense." Louise isn't real big on PDA.

"Like, _really _friendly," she says.

"Oh. _Oh,_" I say. I'd forgotten how Jerome acts when he's drunk. "Kinda glad I don't remember that." I really hope I didn't do anything either. I know I'm not the smartest when I'm drunk, either.

"I almost put the smackdown on you, actually," she says. I can feel the blood draining from my face. I have a feeling that I screwed up big time.

"What did I do?" I ask.

"You were getting really loud and like, shouting things at people," she says. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Oh thank God. I was worried it was something else."

"Like what?" she asks, looking at me innocently.

"Nothing," I say. I put my bowl in the sink.

Nothing at all.

**A/N TIME! (DON'T KILL ME PLZ): Hey guys! QD here with a super-late update. I am so, so sorry about the lateness of this update. I promise I won't let it go this long again without warning you guys first. That being said, I do have somewhat of an excuse. My school just got out on June 10th, so I kind of took the week after that to just relax (and watch Supernatural, but that's not important). Also, I left the Sunday after for Florida for a week. I actually typed this chapter while there, but I didn't want to post it from down there because of crappy internet and storage reasons and stuff. Additionally, I was totally wrong about June 11th being the 6-month anniversary. It's actually July 11th. I'm just bad at counting. HOWEVER; I am preparing something special for the 6-month anniversary. You guys are gonna love it, I promise! Anyway, here's the facts!**

**-Something getting buried on my desk is a real threat. I am a neat freak about everything but my room, locker, and other everyday workspaces.**

**-FOR THE LOVE OF PANCAKES. I like pancakes.**

**-The whole 'not having someone to kiss at midnight' thing is something that would definitely happen to me. Livin' that single pringle life.**

**-I am not a lover of PDA. Unless it's hugging. Then I will hug everyone forever.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I would not be able to consume an entire box of Oreos like Ashley says she does. I really wouldn't.**

**-The person I based Corrin off of has a girlfriend, and would therefore have someone to kiss at midnight. Unlike single pringle over here.**

**I think that about covers it! Thank you guys so much for all of your reading/reviewing/etc. I can't say it enough; you beautiful individuals are my inspiration. Y'all are why I keep doing what I'm doing. The amount of views you have given me is absolutely mind-blowing, and all I can give you in return is a chapter and a thank you (and my special six-month project' but that's not important right now). Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - I set up a Twitter account so that you guys can be always in the know on where I'm at as far as updates go. Follow me at gracefulhappens! If you forget, I put it in my bio as well :)**

**PPS - Possible Merome one-shots coming up in the future ;)**


	23. Spring Break

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE : Spring Break

_It's dark, and I'm holding a shovel. The walls and floor of the circular hole I'm in are black dirt that seems to suck the energy from the air. When I look up, I'm so far down that I can't even see what's above, only a misty void. I hear a voice, crackly like a radio with bad reception, telling me to get back to work. I obey, digging my shovel back into the ground. I look around, but I don't see any speakers. I pause for a moment to make sure I didn't miss anything. Something slams into me that hurts a lot, and I fall to the ground face-first as the world around me becomes black._

_ When I come to and get up, someone else is lying on the ground. Someone with brown hair, like mine. Someone with long legs, like mine. The only difference is the reddish-brownish stain spreading across the back of her faded army jacket. I raise my hand in front of my face. To my horror, I see nothing but a transparent specter of what it should be. Intrigued, I walk over to my shovel. I am able to pry it out of my own dead hands, giving me an idea.  
>I fly up the hole, the uneven walls blurring with speed. Even so, it takes me a while to reach the top. I almost want to fly back down when I get there and see what was guarding my prison. I realize that I'm staring at the reason I am dead, but not gone.<em>

_ Two men are standing at the edge, peering down. They are wearing the same outfit I was, with the same massive brown stains on the back out their jackets. Their faces are grotesquely skeletal, like their inner tissues are wasting away below their skin. They don't seem to be able to see me or the shovel I'm holding as I float up ten feet above the dark abyss._

_ "Any minute now," one of them says. The only sound that comes out is a rattling noise, like bones tumbling together. I don't know why I can understand it. The fact that I can is terrifying enough to stop me from attempting any revenge._

_ Just as well, because I can hear something flying up the hole beneath me. I drop the shovel in a panic and try to fly away, but it's like I'm suddenly moving through molasses. I push the two zombielike guards in to try and stop whatever it is. I hear them hit something, but I don't hear them hit the bottom._

_ My body floats gently out of the hole and lays on the ground. I touch down out of curiosity and walk over to investigate. I look almost peaceful except for the trickle of blood at the corner of my mouth. I turn and begin to walk away, toward whatever awaits me beyond._

_ Something freezing cold grabs me around the ankle. I turn back and my body's eyes are open. And glowing. I scream as my soul is sucked back into my body with a white-hot burst of light and pain. It feels like I'm being ripped in half._

I'm still screaming when I wake up.

I sit up, breathing heavily. Lizzie runs in, a worried look on her face. I try to calm myself down as she hands me a water bottle and takes out the dream tally.

"They're getting worse," I say, accepting the small notebook. I scratch a quick mark under the title _Revenge_, the thirtieth or so that I've made. I lost count around fifteen.

"No kidding," Lizzie says. "It's been, what, a month and a half now since they've been two a night? I think they're getting more frequent, too."

"I hope not. Maybe it'll get better over spring break," I say.

"Yeah. Maybe," Lizzie says. She doesn't believe me, I can tell. She offers me a smile, then leaves the room. I settle back down, glad that it's over. For tonight, anyway.

God only knows about tomorrow and all the days after that.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

"You're flying in at 5:30, right?" I ask. Mat makes kissy faces at me from the couch, and I flip him the bird with my free hand,

"Yeah," Lily says, her voice distorted by the cell phone. "You better be on time, dood. I promise I won't do a Mat and get sidetracked for two hours."

"DON'T WORRY MITCH, I'LL HAVE PLENTY OF CONDOMS FOR YOU AND LILY," Mat yells. I do a fake punch in his direction.

"I heard that," she says.

"Sorry," I reply. I turn back to Mat, but he's long gone.

"Nah, it's fine. Gives me an excuse to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time," she says. I raise my eyebrow.

"Oh really? And what's that?"  
>"Y'know how the first thing he texted Jerome's ex-girlfriend was 'tits or GTFO?'" she asks.<p>

"Jasmine? Yeah. I remember," I say, wondering where she's going with this.

"If you give me his number, I will repeatedly text him 'tits or GTFO' until he flips the fuck out," she says. I laugh. That's actually pretty good.

"Stunningly mediocre, I know, but I think it's funny," she says.

"Nah, you're good, you're good. Hey I gotta go but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I say.

"'Kay. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye, dood," I say.

"Adios," she says, and hangs up. I text her mat's number, then go off to rough him up a bit for trolling my phone call. Just as I'm putting him in a headlock, his phone goes off. I let him go to check it, hoping it's Lily. Sure enough, Mat laughs.

"Dude, dude, Mitch, someone just texted me 'tits or GTFO," he says. I laugh like I didn't know it was coming.

"What are you gonna do?" I ask.

"I told them wrong number," he says. We wander down to the kitchen and I start getting stuff out to make some dank drank.

"Dude, what the fuck, they just texted me it again," he says. I repress a smile.

This could get interesting.

**A/N TIME! YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT: Hey guys! QD here with chapter 23! We're closing in fast on the six-month anniversary of this story, and I just wanna thank you guys again for all the support you've given me so far. All of your feedback means the world to me, and I'm so grateful that you guys find my content enjoyable. Shoutout to Matthew G for giving me the idea of how to bump up a key plot point. I'm not doing quite what you suggested, but you definitely gave me awesome inspiration! Thanks dood! That being said, here's the facts!**

**-This nightmare is another one based off a poem I wrote. This one is called "Bye-Bye" and I wrote it when I was in sixth grade. Yep. Hopefully that poem will be up in **_**Lily's Nightmares **_**soon!**

**-I'm good at NOT wasting time at airports. Also, when people are late to pick me up, I start worrying that they're dead. Fun times.**

**-I would love love LOVE to pull that prank on Mat. That right there is a life goal. Ever since I watched bYd episode one and found out that that's what he said to Jasmine, I have wanted to do that.**

**-I love the phrase "stunningly mediocre." I also like "ah yes, the sweet sight of mediocrity."**

**-I do say "adios" a lot, even though I never really took Spanish. I also speak a bunch of German. Strangely enough, I took two years of French and I barely speak that at all. To other people, anyway.**

**And the fictions:  
><strong>

**-I don't have nightmares like this, luckily.**

**I think that about sums it up! Don't forget to follow, favorite, etc. because I love it but more importantly I love you beautiful individuals. Also, check out my companion story where I post the poems that the nightmares are from. ALSO, follow me on Twitter at gracefulhappens to stay in the know on all my updates for all my stories (which includes **_**Ancient Merome **_**which you should chek out if you haven't yet.) Now that the shameless self-promotion is over, I give you all internet hugs and I hope you have a lovely week! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - Seriously though. Have a fantastic week :)**


	24. Messing with Mat

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Messing with Mat

"Hey there stranger," I say, smiling and hugging Mitch with my free arm.

"Hey yourself," he replies, grinning. He leads me out of the airport to a van, opening the trunk so I can heft my small suitcase in. I walk around to the front, but the passenger seat is already taken.

"Mat made me bring him," Mitch says. Mat has the most smug smile on his face as I pull the van door open. I yank it shut behind me and slide into the center seat.

"So this is the famous NoochM?" I ask. I extend my hand for a handshake. He accepts despite the awkward angle. His hands are warm, if a little sweaty. The sweat could just be me, though.

"In the flesh," he says.

"Well, you're not as big of a dick as Mitch says," I say.

"Don't say that, J. He'll believe you," Mitch says, starting up the engine.

"Wait, Mitch said I'm a dick?" Mat asks as we make our way through the parking garage.

"No, I figured that out for myself," I say, giggling.

"Wow, okay," Mat says. I hunt through my backpack and pull out my phone. Time for a little harmless fun at Mat's expense. I text him the same thing I've been texting him for the past 24 hours. A few seconds later, his phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out. I try to stop myself from smiling but it's really, really hard.

"Okay, this is seriously starting to piss me off," he says.

"What?" I ask innocently. He motions to his phone.

"Some random guy keeps texting me 'tits or gtfo' and it's annoying," he says.

"Huh. Imagine that," I reply. Mitch snorts and pulls out into the street.

"What?" Mat says, looking back and forth between Mitch and I.

"Nothing," we say simultaneously. I send him the message again.

"What the fuck?!" Mat exclaims. I have to try even harder to keep my laughs in.

"Alright, that's it. I'm gonna give this motherfucker what he wants," Mat says. I quietly maneuver myself so that I can see his screen. He's using Google to download a picture of some random girl's boobs. I quickly put my phone on silent so that Mat won't be tipped off. He sends off the picture and soon enough my phone lights up. I send him off a reply and wait.

"'Those aren't ur tits,'" Mat reads. I send him another message.

"Son of a bitch!" he exclaims. I shove my face into my elbow to stop myself from laughing my head off. I can see Mitch in the rearview mirror holding back a smile. The rest of the car ride passes calmly, with the three of us making small talk. I don't text him again, just so that he doesn't get suspicious. When we get to the house, I'm stunned for a couple seconds. The videos I've watched don't do it justice. It's huge, and kind of imposing. It's even bigger on the inside. Mitch leads me to a bunch of couch cushions pushed under the stairs. I set my suitcase next to them and walk over to the front door. I lean back against it and slide down so that I'm sitting.

"So what do you wanna do?" Mitch asks, sitting down next to me.

"Shh, I'm taking it in," I say.

"Taking what in?"

"The majestic-ness." We sit in silence for a few minutes.

"Okay, I'm done. What is there to do?" I ask.

"Well, we could go swimming, we could go eat, we could… I don't know. There's a lot of stuff," Mitch replies. Just then, my phone vibrates in my pocket. When I pull it out, it's Mat, sending me another (different) boob picture. I'd texted him again as soon as he was out of my eyesight. I reply telling him that I know he's lying and send him another regular text.

"You're not gonna give that up, are you?" Mitch asks, leaning over to look at my phone.

"Absolutely not. Not until he sends me a picture of his boobs."

"But he doesn't have boobs."

"Doesn't mean I won't try."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I gotta say, her prank is turning out to be pretty damn funny. She kept texting him all trough dinner every five minutes. He was suspicious at first, but then she told him that she was texting one of her college friends and he seemed to believe it. She's even added occasional laughs when she's looking at her texts. Her acting is actually not bad. As we're leaving the restaurant, she comes up next to me and shows me their conversation.

"Fifteen. He's tried fifteen times to send me boobs."

"Oh my god," I say, laughing. Mat turns around from his position ten feet ahead as Lily slides her phone back into her pocket. He grins and shoots me a look when he sees us standing close together.

"Mitch and Lily sitting in a tree," he starts.

"S-I-T-T-I-N-G," Lily says, cutting him off. I laugh.

"Shut down," I say.

"Shut up," Mat says.

"Shut sideways?" Lily says. Mat and I look at her confusedly.

"What? I thought we were listing directions to shut," she says.

"You're weird," Mat says.

"No way," Lily replies. "How am I going to tell my family?"

"Well, you see, there's this thing called a telephone," Mat says.

"Well I never," I say. We make our way back home, which is only about a ten-minute walk. Mat and Lily continue to tease each other the whole way. Somewhere along the line, Mat switches to flirting. Lily doesn't seem to notice. When we get back inside, Mat runs off, saying something about his bladder exploding. I grab a beer from the fridge while Lily pours a glass of milk.

"You know he was flirting with you, right?" I ask her. She nods.

"I know. I figure he'll regret it when he finds out I've been pranking him. Speaking of which…" she trails off, pulling out her phone. She sends off a text just as Mat walks into the question. He goes to the fridge and opens the door when his phone buzzes. I glance at Lily, and she does a silent countdown. She puts her last finger down right as Mat reads the message.

"Goddammit!"

**A/N TIME! WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE: Hey guys! QD here with another chapter for y'all. I'm really sorry that this is the only thing that's happening for the six-month anniversary, but it turns out that I'm gonna be camping over the weekend so I can't do what I wanted to. Nevertheless, I'll be back next week, so hopefully I can get it up and running then :) Thank you guys so much for your continued support of my story. I love you all so much for everything you've given me over these past six months. You beautiful individuals are one of the most positive forces to ever come into my life, and I am so grateful every day for each and every one of you. Special shoutout to everyone who followed me on Twitter (you guys are extra awesome). All that mushy stuff aside, here's the facts!**

**-While I don't think that Mat's a bad guy, I do think he is kind of a dick. Just a little bit. Mostly, I think, because of his ASF days. He's a lot better now.**

**-I would love to just sit somewhere to take in the majesticosity of anything. I'm not picky.**

**-I don't really notice when people flirt with me. I am a brick. A brick of friendship. Hello.**

**-MILK. I like it.**

**-I also like executing countdowns perfectly.**

**And the fictions:**

**-There is no way I'd be able to keep a straight face. I tried pranking my family once and I couldn't hold the face for anything. PM me if you want to hear the story :)**

**-I'd love to say I came up with the 'S-I-T-T-I-N-G' thing, but I saw it on Tumblr. Still funny, though.**

**I think that's everything! Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, as well as the language. I was trying to represent Mat accurately. The chapter thing is just because big (actually, huge) things are coming soon. Get pumped! There is a drama coaster coming up and I am nowhere near sorry [insert evil author smile]. Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - If you guys are looking for awesome Percy Jackson content, check out my sister's new story! Her name is Little Defiance, if you want to look her up. Also if you want some supertastic Les Miserables, Harry Potter, or Song of the Lioness content, check out my friend Forever the Optimist.**

**PPS - Seriously. Check them out. They're awesome and I love them.**


	25. I Win

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: I Win

Okay, it's official. I'm enjoying this prank way more than I should be. I think I've almost got him. I've been sending the message every five minutes practically on the dot for the past three hours. I've been careful to avoid being around him too much these past three days or so. Everyone else who's arrived has been brought in on the joke. There's about ten of us staying in the house now, and all of them are giggling at Mat behind his back. It's kinda mean, but I consider it due punishment for his ASF days. At least, that's how I rationalize it.

Right now, I'm hanging out with Ashley on the mattress we share under the stairs. We're the only single girls in the house, so we automatically got put together. I don't mind, and I don't think she does either. I've gotten to know her a little bit since she's gotten here, and she seems like a really cool person. We lucked out; both of us had enough videos prepared so that we don't have to do much while we're here. Everyone else is recording except for Mat and the girlfriends. Preston's girlfriend basically never leaves his side, recording or not. She's the only girl in the house besides Louise, Jerome's girlfriend, but those two are out on a date today. Needless to say, Ashley and I were kinda just dumped in the same boat.

"You know Mitch likes you, right?" I ask her. I look around to double-check that no one else is within hearing range.

"I've had a feeling ever since New Year's. That idiot can't look at me for two seconds without smiling," she replies, giggling. I laugh along. She isn't wrong; he gets this huge dopey grin that's actually pretty adorable in a puppy dog way.

"And?" I ask, nudging her shoulder playfully.

"And what? I like him too, but–"

"But what?" I cut her off. "My spidey senses are tingling. You guys would be an awesome couple." She blushes.

"I just don't think a long-distance relationship is a good idea," she says.

"Quentin and Annie do a pretty good job," I reply.

"We're not Quentin and Annie."

"True." We stare into space for a couple minutes.

"I just–I feel like there isn't enough there y'know? Like, we haven't spent nearly as much real time together as we have Skype time," she says.

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from. Still, though, if one of y'all haven't made a move by the time you guys leave, I might be forced to intervene," I say, grinning semi-evilly.

"Hasn't it been five minutes?" Ashley asks wryly.

"Oh, shit, yeah," I say, grabbing my phone and sending off the text. Mat would probably be bothering us right now (he was prepared too, video-wise), but we scared him off by saying we were gonna talk girl talk. Y'know, bras and periods and stuff. It was almost like someone had lit his pants on fire, he was outta here so fast.

"So what about you? Any _secret lovers_?" she asks mischievously. I laugh.

"Nope. Just Single Pringle over here, enjoying a life of freedom and solitude," I say.

"Not even a little crush?" she asks with puppy dog eyes.

"Not even. I'm about as romantically invested as a brick."

"But all the guys keep flirting with you. Except for Jerome, of course. But even Preston's been flirting," she says. I'm taken aback.

"They do?" I ask.

"Yeah," she laughs. "You seriously didn't notice?"

"No. Probably 'cause they treat you the same way," I say. Now it's her turn to be taken aback.

"No, they don't."

"Yeah, they do," I reply. "Occupational hazard of being a single female gamer, I guess." Ashley giggles.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"Or they're so used to flirting with each other that they forgot how to stop," she says. I giggle, then send off another text to Mat.

This time however I get a reply. I nudge Ashley and she leans in so that both of us are watching the screen. I open the message and sit silently for a second. Then, as if on cue, the two of us bust out laughing. We high five, unable to stop the Niagara Falls of giggles. I quickly save the picture, then run upstairs to find Mitch. Ashley tags along behind me. When we reach his door, we pause and listen to make sure he's not recording. I hear his outro and wait a couple seconds before knocking. He opens the door, and I show him my phone. I mouth the words _I win._

He busts out laughing.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I've just finished my outro and I'm stretching back in my chair when there's a knock on my door. I open it, and Lily and Ashley are standing in the hallway. I'm confused until I see the screen that Lily's showing me. On it is a picture of a shirtless Mat with an incredibly angry expression and the caption "R U HAPPY NOW U SHIT." Lily mouths _I win_, and I bust out laughing. I don't even bother trying to keep it down. Soon enough, Mat sticks his head into the hall.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"Nothing," Ashley and I reply simultaneously. Lily is busy with her phone.

"Yeah, bullshit. You guys have been keeping something from me ever since I you got here, and I–" he's cut off by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulls it out, and I take the opportunity to glance at Lily. She's moved so that she's mostly out of Mat's sight. She signals me to stay quiet, so I turn back to Mat.

"Oh, this asshole is CALLING me now?" He answers it. "Listen here, dickpants. I have _had it _with your–" he starts.

"Thank you for the tits," Lily says, looking him straight in the eyes. He is totally dumbfounded, his mouth gaping open like a fish.

The three of us starting laughing our heads off while Mat just stands there sputtering. We're practically on the floor from laughing so hard.

"Dude, your FACE," Lily crows, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's been you the WHOLE TIME?!" Mat asks. Lily's laughing too hard to form a response, so she just nods.

"You–you–I–you bitch," he says. He starts to laugh.

"Worth it. One-ten out of ten. Worth it. So worth it," Lily says. The four of us eventually calm down, just sitting on the floor in silence.

"Hey Mat," Lily says.

"What?" he asks, looking at her.

"Like my lockscreen?"

**A/N TIME! AWW YISS: Hey guys! QD here with a brand-new chapter. This is kinda fast, I know, but I actually wrote this chapter while I was camping and why wait to upload it? I'm super excited for the next couple chapters. All that aside, it's time to reveal my final project! I put up a poll concerning some options and I want you guys to vote on what you want to see. Thank you guys so much for everything. This story has almost hit 24k views as of right now, and that is absolutely just stunning to me. I'm glad you guys are enjoying my writing. Here's the facts!**

**-Ashley is one of my favorite MC YouTubers. She's awesome. Yey.**

**-Single Pringle over here enjoys her life of brickitude. Aww yiss.**

**-I suck at telling when people are flirting with me, but we've covered that before. Moving on.**

**To the fictions!**

**-I wouldn't be able to stop laughing long enough to finish out the prank like that.**

**I think that's everything! Thank you guys for all of your reviews, follows, etc. because y'all keep me going every day. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter to stay in the know! Username is in my bio :) Also, don't forget to vote on my project! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - Shoutout to Rylee (I'm sorry if I misspelled that) for tweeting me 'tits or GTFO.' You rock!**

**PPS - Sorry this is a bit late, but another shoutout to Tammy for being the first to ever tweet me. You go!**

**PPS - Seriously, though. Vote.**


	26. More or Less

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: More or Less

"You sure you don't wanna come?" Mitch asks. I nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Somebody's gotta hold down the fort," I say. The boys, the girlfriends, and Ashley are heading out to a bar for St. Patrick's Day. I decided to stay home. Bars aren't really my scene, and I'm underage anyway. Besides, they're coming back later and are more than likely gonna keep drinking when they do. I want to have as little time around drunk people as possible.

"Okay, if you're sure," Mitch says.

"Just don't make this a repeat of your birthday," I say, nudging his shoulder. He raises his eyebrow, looking at me sideways.

"How do you know what happened on my birthday?" he asks.

"You have a habit of drunk Skyping me," I say. It's true. At least once a month, I get an unplanned call at a really weird time with him staggering all over and slurring his words. I'm not saying I approve, but it is pretty funny. Except for that one time he practically groped a girl. That was not so fun.

"Oh. Right. That. I won't, I promise," he says. A few seconds later, the scrambling to get shoes and jackets ends.

"Have fun, guys," I say, holding the door open for them.

"Bye, Mom," Mitch says. I laugh.

"Shut up and get in the van," I say. He kisses me on the cheek and walks out.

"Thank you, honey," I say in a 'Mom' voice. "Make good choices!" I yell after him. Rob is the next out the door. He gives me a quick peck on the cheek as well.

"Really? You guys are going to turn me into an actual soccer mom," I say. One by one, everyone files out, each giving me a kiss on the cheek. Even Ashley and the girlfriends. Mat's the last of them, a few steps behind everyone else. His kiss feels different, for some reason. Like he means it in something other than a "Bye, Mom" kind of way.

"I just want you to know that I hate you all, and that you're gonna be late for soccer practice if you don't leave right now," I say, leaning into the garage. I doubt most of them heard me, but they laugh and wave anyways. I wave back and then go back inside, shutting the door behind me. I sigh, letting out a huge breath. I've got the whole house (well, mansion) to myself for at least two hours. I decide to read some fanfics, maybe go through the Jenja tag on Tumblr. I haven't done that in a couple weeks.

Before I know it, it's been I don't even know how long and I'm hungry. I wander into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. Unfortunately, there isn't any peanut butter. Or jelly. Or bread, even. I don't know how they live like this. Who doesn't have bread in their house? They've got a fridge full of beer, a freezer full of pizza, and _no bread_. Weirdos. I'm still rummaging around for something to put in my face when I hear the garage door open. I decide to settle for a glass of chocolate milk. The guys stumble back in as I'm pouring it. I glance at the clock on the oven, which reads 11:17. Wow. I guess I really lost track of time. I must have been reading for almost four hours.

"Hey guys. How was soccer practice?" I joke. Some of them look confused, some of them laugh too hard, and I'm guessing that the ones who are laughing the normal amount are sober. Ashley comes up and grabs a glass, pouring herself some milk as well.

"I tried to keep them under control, but I think they sneaked some shots when I was in the bathroom," she says. I nod.

"Well, at least they're legal," I say. I watch Preston bonk into a wall as he rounds the corner.

"More or less, anyway."

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

I don't know why I kissed her cheek. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm glad she didn't think anything of it. Not that it meant anything, really. It just seemed like something you should do for your mom, which is what she was acting like. I didn't expect the other guys to follow my lead, especially not Mat. He's been kinda sulky for the past couple days. I think he's finally gotten over her pranking him. I just hope that he's not getting attached to her. She has a way of completely ignoring people who have feelings for her. I saw it while I was staying with her before Christmas.

Rob pulls the van into a parking lot of some Irish pub. We decided that even though we're having a mini-party at the house later, you can never start celebrating too early. Except for Lily, who stayed home. She said that she had to "hold down the fort" but I think she was lying. I think she's just scared of the whole thing. She's not one for wild parties, that's for sure. I'm interested to see how tonight is gonna go. She can't really escape a house party where she's staying.

Before I know it, it's been I don't even know how long but most of us are tipsy. I bang my head on the car when I get in and when I get out. When we get back home, Lily asks us how "soccer practice" was and I laugh, remembering how Mat tried to pick up a girl and got totally shut down. I see Preston smack into a wall as he tries to leave the room and I laugh harder. Alcohol makes everything funny. I think I overhear Ashley saying something about us sneaking shots while she was in the bathroom. It's totally true. It was Mat's idea, do 'em fast and hide the evidence. I thought it worked, but apparently not. She's observant. And cute. I like her face.

"WHOOOOOO'S READY TO PARTAAAAAYYYY?"

**A/N TIME! MOST BESTEST TIME! AWW YISS: Hey guys! QD here with another chapter for y'all. I'm really excited for the next couple chapters. I apologize in advance for any and all cliffhangers [insert evil author smile]. Hooray for the future! In other news, this story has almost broken 27k views, which is more than I ever expected. Thank you guys so much for all the support you've shown over the past months. I love my beautiful individuals :) On to the facts!**

**-I would absolutely stay home in this situation. I usually don't like situations like that, and I generally only make exceptions for cast parties for shows that I'm in. Ayyy.**

**-I am a very maternal person. I will probably be a really crappy wife but a great mom. I love doing a suburban mom impression.**

**-I love chocolate milk. Especially Costco chocolate milk. That shiznit is the bomb dot com. I also really like PB & J sandwiches. Om nom nom.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I had something. I know I did. I totally forgot what I was gonna say here. Oh well. I guess today I am fiction-free :)**

**I think that about sums it up! Don't forget to review, etc. because you lovely fantastic people are what makes my day. It's looking like my six-month anniversary special is going to be a livestream, but I'm not closing the poll for another couple chapters so go vote! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - I'm sorry if it seems like I'm losing touch with the fandom. I just binge-watched the entirety of Supernatural over a two-month period. Blame that.**


	27. Drunk People Work Miracles

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Drunk People are Miracle Workers

*MITCH'S POV*

"WHOOOOOO'S READY TO PARTAAAAAYYYY?" Mat yells. He's wearing an Irish flag as a cape (God only knows where he got that). Most of us yell back some sort of enthusiastic response that's generally wordless. Lily just facepalms, but I can see her shoulders shaking so I know she's laughing. She and Ashley are drinking chocolate milk, whereas most everyone else has found beer or something alcoholic. Even after only being here for less than five minutes. But hey, nothing wrong with that. Now the real party starts.

AS the night goes on, the entire house slowly slips into drunkenness. Except for Lily, who's basically useless because she can't stop laughing. For whatever reason, she finds us being drunk really funny. Even Ashley gets a little bit tipsy. Some people are dancing, some are talking. I think Mat tried to throw Preston in the pool once or twice. I'm having a good time.

At least, I was until I downed way more vodka than I should've, straight from the bottle. Then I was having a _great _time. Everything sort of fades out about an hour after that, when I drank the rest.

-oO0Oo-

Oh. My. God. I did not expect this level of sheer… shenanigans. I've never really been around drunk people, save for the drunk Skyping from Mitch. My college is a dry campus, and I was a goody-two-shoes in high school. I almost wish I'd been a little more adventurous, because drunk people are fricking _hilarious_. The drinking itself isn't so funny. It actually makes me nervous. It's more the heightened sense of self-importance that the boys seem to get. Like, for example, Mat was convinced that he could carry Preston all the way from the second story of the house down to the pool to throw him in. It was kinda funny to watch him chase Preston all the way outside, where he did not succeed at getting him into the chillly water. And then he tried again a couple hours later. I'm pretty sure he didn't remember trying the first time.

I spent some time dancing, until Mat tried to grab my ass. I smacked him pretty good for that one. It didn't matter, though, because he just went over to somebody else and tried to grab their ass. Rob was trying to twerk. I told him that he was too white and that he'd never get a job that way. He almost started crying. I felt bad, but it was also kind of funny. Like, here's the grown-ass man, crying because a girl told him he was white. I gave him a nice hug until he stopped crying. It took about five minutes of back rubs and reassuring him that he'll have a job someday to get him to calm down.

I had a good chat with Louise. She's really nice. Jerome did a good job picking her. Ashley was a little bit tipsy, but not enough to be out of her brain. I haven't seen Preston's girlfriend since they all got home. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Preston since Mat tried to get him in the pool again about an hour ago. I'm starting to actually feel like a mom.

These crazy kids, I tell ya.

I walk outside around 3:30, desperate for some fresh air. Mat follows me out, and we start up a conversation. Turns out, we like a lot of the same stuff. Not that he'll remember that. He's totally hammered. He practically falls into the pool even sitting down eight feet away. Drunk people are miracle workers. I'm pleasantly surprised when he's able to keep up a halfway decent conversation, even if it is constantly derailed. I don't even notice when an hour passes. I only realize exactly how long it's been and how much alcohol he's actually consumed when he just passes out mid-sentence.

I half-drag half-carry him back into the room. God, he's heavy. I mean, I knew I had noodle arms, but damn. By the time I've gotten him upstairs (thank god for that elevator) and into his bed, he's thrown up on himself once but still managed to remain passed out. I change his shirt, then set him up in his bed so that if he throws up it'll go into the garbage can that I drag next to his head. I go back downstairs, where it seems that everyone else is starting to pass out as well. Everyone else seems to have made it into their beds okay. I take a deep breath and survey the damage.

I'm pretty sure that nothing got broken, but there's bottles and red cups everywhere. I find a big garbage bag in the kitchen and start cleaning up so that there'll be less to do tomorrow. Suburban mom strikes again, I guess. It only takes about fifteen minutes to get rid of the worst of it. I go back outside and roll up my jeans, sitting on the edge of the pool and sticking my calves in. The cold water wakes me up, but I'm only able to leave my legs in the pool for a short amount of time. I start going over my travel plans in my head. I have to leave the day after the day after tomorrow. I guess that would just be the day after tomorrow, because technically it's morning. I check my watch. 5:22.

I should probably get to bed. I stand up and stretch before walking back inside. I walk around the kitchen and the living room, making sure I didn't miss too much when I was cleaning. Well, sort of cleaning. All of a sudden, I hear voices.

Strange–I thought that everyone went to bed over thirty minutes ago. I think they're coming from the hall. As I get closer, the sound gets louder and then suddenly very quiet. I walk a little bit faster and pull out my iPod just in case. I start talking before I round the corner.

"Hey, I thought I heard voices out here. I was just coming to see if you–OH MY GOD!"

**A/N TIME! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME: Hey guys! QD here with super-speedy update. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I already have the next chapter written so hopefully I'll get that typed up fairly soon. Get ready for a big change [insert evil author smile]. I don't really have much else to say, so on to the facts!**

**-I switched around the POV order in this chapter because once Mitch's memory cuts out, so does his POV. This story is kind of like Lily and Mitch retelling their story, so obviously Mitch can't tell what he doesn't remember. Plus, I had to get that cliffhanger in there [insert evil author smile].**

**-The college I plan to go to is, in fact, a dry campus.**

**-I am a huge goody-two-shoes. Hooray.**

**-Return of maternal QD!**

**-I like going outside when I get overwhelmed. It clears my head.**

**-I really do have noodle arms.**

**-Vomit doesn't really gross me out. I have a pretty strong stomach as far as that stuff is concerned.**

**And the fictions:**

**-I would not be able to carry Mat. It would be more of me dragging him by some limb.**

**-Like I said, I've never been around drunk people, so how I represented them was probably inaccurate.**

**I think that's everything! Just an FYI, there probably won't be Mitch's POV on the next chapter and there definitely won't be an author's note for reasons I'll explain later. As always, thank you guys for reading, reviewing etc. Your support means the world to me. Internet hugs to every beautiful individual! Much luv!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - don't forget to follow my Twitter for updates on my progress! Username in my bio :)**


	28. He's Just Drunk (Part One)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (Part One): He's Just Drunk

"–OH MY GOD!"

Mitch is straddling a panicked Ashley on the floor. His knees are pinning her arms to her sides and his shirt is stuffed into her mouth, making a surprisingly effective gag. Her tank top has been yanked up so that it's stuck up in her armpits and her bra sticks out underneath. To my (and clearly Ashley's) horror, he's kissing her neck and slowly inching downward. One of his hands has made it far enough up her stomach so that his fingertips are underneath her bra. One of his hands starts making its way to his belt buckle as I hurriedly pull up the camera app on my iPod and snap a picture. As soon as that's done, I toss it off to the side and run to help Ashley. I pull Mitch off, who's still fumbling with his zipper (having gotten his belt undone). I force him onto his stomach and pull his arms behind his back, anchoring his wrists on his spine. I put my foot on the back of his neck to keep his head down. Meanwhile, Ashley has stood up and fixed her clothes.

"Are you okay? What happened?" I ask. She leans against the wall and slides down to a sitting position, taking a deep breath.

"I came out here for some peace and quiet. I'd only been out here a few minutes before Mitch found me. He sat down next to me and we talked for like half an hour. Then he kissed me. But then he tried going farther and when I told him no he forced himself on me. You came in right after that."

"God, Ashley, I'm really sorry," I say, meaning every word. "I should have known he'd try something like this. He gets absolutely stupid when he's drunk."

"There's nothing you could have done," she says.

"But there is, though. I knew he liked you. I should have kept a better eye on him, or stopped him from drinking so much, or–"

"And have him hate you later? You're not his mum, Lily. You have to remember that. This was no one's fault but his," she says, glaring at Mitch.

"But I–okay," I say. I'll let it go.

"Why did you take a picture?" Ashley asks/

"Evidence," I say. "I have a feeling he's not going to remember any of this later."

I can smell the alcohol on him from here. He hasn't protested once since I put him in this position. Just laid there mutely. Like a slug.

"I'm gonna take him up to bed," I say, taking my foot off his neck and hauling him to his feet. I use one hand to hold his wrists together as I pick his shirt up from where Ashley tossed it when she took off the gag.

"Are you gonna be okay alone? I don't want him to try anything and there's no one there to help you," she says. I glance at Mitch and laugh once mirthlessly. He is totally fixated on Ashley, not even hearing her words but just staring at her.

"I think I'll be fine," I reply. With that, I march him upstairs, keeping him in front of me.

We just barely get to the bathroom in time. He fumbles with the toilet lid, almost not getting it open soon enough. Everything he's eaten tonight has just made a surprise appearance. Fortunately, it all lands where it should. It doesn't take long for the whole room to start smelling like vomit. He struggles to push down the handle, so I go over and flush it for him.

"I'm gonna go get you some water," I say, getting up from my kneeling position on the floor.

"No, just one more beer, he replies. His words are practically unintelligible.

"I'm going to get some water," I repeat. He's too preoccupied with keeping the contents of his stomach within the porcelain throne to reply, so I slip out the door and shut it behind me. When I come back, he's passed out in a heap. There's a big dark stain on the front of his pants.

"Oh, for the love of Jesus," I say under my breath. I set the water sown on the counter and leave the room again, heading for Mitch's suitcase. I grab a pair of pajama pants and a new pair of boxers, also swiping his pillow and sheet. He's still out cold when I get back. I pray for just five more minutes of unconsciousness as I unbutton his jeans and slide them off.

Just to clarify, I was not trying to take advantage of a drunk and blacked-out Mitch. I was just trying to get him out of the pants that he'd just pissed. I try to think like a doctor, see the body from a medical standpoint, as I slip off his damp and smelly boxers. I grab the new pair and pull them on as quickly as possible. He stirs a little bit as I ease the elastic around his hips, but doesn't wake up. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding as I yank on the new pants. I don't bother trying to put his shirt back on. Too much effort. I lift his head up gently and lay the pillow underneath. I cover him with the sheet, then head downstairs to grab my own pillow. I grab my blanket from the floor next to my side of the bed then return to the upstairs bathroom. Before lying down, I wet a washcloth and gently wipe his face with it. His eyes open slightly.

"Mmm, Ashley, that feels nice," he says, half-awake.

"I'm not Ashley, Mitch," I say quietly. I set the washcloth on the counter and get out my iPod. I open up the voice memo app and press record as he replies.

"I know," he says. "You're not as pretty. Or nice. Or pretty."

I freeze.

` "That's not very nice," I say. That's an understatement. The words cut into me more than they should. I remind myself that he's drunk, his judgment is impaired, he won't remember this later.

"It's true," he says. He sounds like a little kid.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mitch. I'm not Ashley. I will never be Ashley." I can feel the hurt creeping into my voice. _Stop it, Lily_, I think. _He's just drunk._

Right?

-END OF PART ONE-


	29. He's Just Drunk (Part Two)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (Part Two): He's Just Drunk

"Why can't Ashley be here instead of you?" he asks. "I love her more." His words sting, but I ignore them. He's drunk.

He's drunk.

He's drunk.

"Because you just tried to rape her, Mitch," I say, trying to keep my voice level.

"No, I didn't," he says.

"Yes, you did."

"You're lying."

"I'll show you the picture tomorrow. Just go to sleep."

"I want Ashley here," he whines.

"Well you know what, Mitch? We can't always get what we want in life. It sucks, but that's just the way it is. Now shut up, lay down, and go the fuck to sleep," I snap at him. He looks like he's just been slapped. I regret it for a brief second, but then I remember what her tried on Ashley and regain my resolve. He lays down.

And keeps talking.

"Easy for you to say. You're not used to getting your way because you're ugly," he says. He sounds offended, and I have to actually hold my wrist to keep myself from hitting him.

"True as that may be, you just tried to force yourself on one of your friends. That's not something you can take back, Mitch."

"It's not like she'll even remember it," he says. I'm just about to tell him that not everyone is as drunk as he is when he goes on.

"Besides, if it had been you that I was _supposedly_ trying to have sex with, you woulda let me do it. You're so easy." His tone is matter-of-fact, but every word hits me like a brick.

"What the hell are you talking about," I say evenly. My voice almost breaks.

"You wanna know why the girlfriends don't like you? It's cause you flirt with their boyfriends all the time."

"That's not true," I say.

"Yeah, it is. You even flirted with me when we first met. I just wish I'd had a chance to talk with your ex so I could find out just how easy you are." His factual tone makes it so much worse.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," I say. Because he doesn't.

He has no idea. No one does.

"Really? Because all that flirting you do is the only reason the guys like you. I had to do a lot of arguing to get them to let you be here this week. I guess it was okay once they were flirted with. Kinda all you're good for, anyway."

"Mitch, please, just go to sleep." I stop fighting and just let the hurt wash over me. My voice sounds broken. I rest my head on my knees.

"I'm just telling the truth. You're useless and ugly and easy and we keep you around because we know it won't be hard to get into your pants."

At the word 'useless,' my last bit of resistance disappears.

"Are you crying?" Mitch asks. I almost laugh at his childish, innocent tone.

"What do you think, Mitch? You've spent the past few minutes telling me that I'm good for nothing but sex." My voice hitches periodically.

"Oh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, you give nice hugs," he says. I look up.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah." He says. "All your fat makes you all warm and squishy."

At this, I lose any patience I still had. I get up and place my hand on the doorknob.

"Wait, don't go," he says.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because I need you," he says plaintively.

"Really? Because you just called me fat, ugly, useless, and easy. Maybe you should fucking think next time before doing that."

"I'm sorry I made you cry. I know what I did wrong and I won't do it again. Please stay," he says.

"No, you don't," I say.

"Don't what?"

"Know what you did wrong. You don't get it. No one does! You might think you know me or understand me, but you don't. You can't, because I never let that happen. The Lily you know is the one everyone knows. The real Lily is so much less than that." I take my hand off the doorknob and sit back down.

"In my junior year of high school, I went into deep depression. On the outside, I was fine. When I was alone, I was honest with myself. I was broken, and it was my fault. I'm my own problem. I don't need anyone else to beat me down with the truth, because I handle that myself just fine.

"One night, I got particularly low. I was stressing out big time, and I couldn't find an escape. So I vented on myself.

"It hurt a lot. I wasn't cutting but I might as well have been because it hurt probably more than a knife would. I was using a pen to dig the word 'FREAK' into my arm. It just seemed like the perfect embodiment of what I was, summed up in one word.

"I was all the things you've said I am. I had fat. I wasn't pretty, to say the least. I was useless, unable to live up to the standards set for me. I was desperate, and if I'd had the opportunity I woulda been easy. No doubt. I felt like a mutant. What kind of normal girl is five foot nine at fifteen years old?

"The ink wore off, obviously. I moved on. Became more confident and outgoing. Got my ass in gear and finally got done what I needed to. Thing is, that girl is still here. The fifteen-year-old alone in her room, hurting herself, is still a part of me. I can't get rid of her, no matter how hard I try." Mitch is asleep, but I don't care.

"You wanna know why I'm crying?" I whisper. "Because it's true. Almost every word you said was true. I'm not pretty, I'm not all that helpful, and I can stand to lose a few pounds. So you know what? Yeah, I flirt. Because I can't tell flirting apart from normal talking. And yeah, it probably wouldn't be hard to get into my pants. I've had exactly one boyfriend my entire life. For God's sake after all these years I'm still a–" I falter.

"Alone. I'm still alone. But at least I figured out how to love myself for who I am." I stop, realizing I've run out of steam and things to say. Instead, I just let my head fall back onto my knees. I cry, really cry for the first time in a long time.

Without warning, I feel an arm pull me into a side hug.

"I'm sorry, Lily," Mitch says. "You're not really ugly, and the girls do like you. I just said that because I was angry. I get jealous sometimes, that's all. I feel like you're supposed to be mine, but I forget that that's not true. Okay? I still love you. You're one of my best friends. I would never try to hurt you. I just didn't know." His words are slurred, and I realize that he's still drunk out of his mind. I bury my face in his shoulder, waiting until the sobs die down to speak.

"It's okay, Mitch," I say, wiping my eyes. "Nobody knew. You're the first person I've ever told. Not even Belle or Lizzie know." He hugs me tighter in response. We stay there until I get uncomfortable. I get up and blow my nose while he goes back to his pillow.

"Mitch?" I ask after we've both laid down on our separate sides of the bathroom floor.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't tell Belle about this, okay? I don't want her to know."

"'Course not," he replies, comforting me. He won't remember this conversation, but at least he promised anyway.

I wait until his breathing is deep and even to stop the recording on my iPod.


	30. Information

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Information

*MITCH'S POV*

I don't remember how I got here, or how much I had to drink. My vision is still a little blurry, but I know that I'll at least remember what's going on now. I look around for the noise that woke me up. I'm lying on the upstairs bathroom floor with my pillow and sheet. Lily is huddled a few feet away. Her blanket is in a twisted heap near her like she threw it off in her sleep. She's frowning and making little noises like she's frustrated. It must have been her that woke me up. I'm about to tell her to shut up and go to sleep when I notice that her eyes aren't open.

She must be having a nightmare. I start to get up and go over and wake her up when I realize that that's a really bad idea. The world swirls and tips. The contents of my stomach are about to make a surprise reappearance. I just barely get my head over the toilet bowl before what little is still in my stomach decides it doesn't want to be there anymore. Any thoughts of comforting someone else are completely gone. I feel a hand rubbing my back lightly and I relax a little bit as my stomach settles down. I reach for the handle and flush the nasty liquid away. Lily hands me my toothbrush as I sit back against the wall, not wanting to get up.

"Sorry I woke you up," I say. She shakes her head and hands me a Dixie cup to spit in.

"Believe me, it's fine," she replies. She takes the cup and toothbrush, then hands me a cup of water. I take a couple sips as she puts the stuff away.

"What time is it?" I ask. She checks her watch.

"About 7 AM," she replies.

"How long have I been out?" I ask.

"An hour maybe? I'm not sure."

"How long have you been sleeping?"

"Forty-five minutes? I don't know," she says, rubbing her eyes.

"So what happened last night? How did I get here?" I ask. I almost ask why she's here instead of Ashley, but something tells me I shouldn't. Her face darkens.

"It's best if I tell you later, when we've both had more sleep," she says.

"But–"

"No, Mitch. I'm serious about this one." I don't doubt it. There's no trace of her usual smile.

"Okay," I say, letting it go. A few minutes pass silently.

"So what was it about?" I ask.

"What?"

"Your nightmare. What was it about?"

"How did you know that I was–Ah, shit, I woke you up, didn't I? I'm sorry. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I'd probably believe her if she wasn't avoiding eye contact.

"Lily, just tell me. It'll help, I promise. Scout's honor," I say, putting one hand on my heart and the other in the air like I'm swearing an oath. She smiles, then sighs.

"It's a long story, Mitch."

"I got time."

"Fine. When I was younger–like, middle school younger– I wrote really dark poetry. Like, bones and murder and stuff. I think I found it funny in a kind of twisted, sadistic way. I mean, here's this adorably innocent, quiet, shy little girl writing poetry about death and pain and shit. As I grew up, they became more self-reflective and socially observant than dark. They were still haunting, just in a different way. Didn't really stop them from biting me in the ass, though.

"Around my freshman year of college, I started to have these nightmares that were really familiar for some reason. It took quite a while to figure out that they were the poems I wrote.

"They seem to repeat kinda randomly. They tend to come if I haven't had one in a few weeks, or if I'm stressed, or if I get really upset. The worst part is, I can't stop writing. It just keeps coming. It's almost like I'm willingly depriving myself of sleep. I haven't found a way to stop them yet.

"Hopefully we can both back to sleep now, but I'm gonna have another one. They always stay the whole night, especially when they're because I'm upset." She stops like she's given away too much.

"So why did it come tonight?" I ask.

"Like I said, I'll tell you everything tomorrow," she says quietly. "Let's just try and go to sleep." She lays down on her side, facing away from me. A short while later, her breathing evens out. Couple minutes later, she starts making the frustrated noises again. I crawl over to her (no puking this time, thank god), dragging my pillow and sheet. I push my pillow up next to hers and lay my sheet across us both. I gently lift her head and slip my arm underneath, then use my other arm to pull myself against her back. I adjust so that I'm comfortable and listen to her breathing even out again. I forgot what it felt like to hold somebody like this. It's nice that it doesn't mean anything. I can feel her breathing against my arm as I fall asleep.

When I wake up almost twelve hours later, she's turned around so that one arm is draped over my side and her head is snuggled into my chest. The first thing I do is smile.

The second, of course, involves my head in the toilet. You would think that I'd gotten rid of everything but apparently not. Lily rubs my back while I'm still heaving and hands me a glass of water when I'm done. I drink it all, then sit back against the wall.

"Everyone's out somewhere. They left us a note," she says. I nod, and we sit in silence for a few seconds.

"So…" I say.

"George," she replies.

"What?"

"Nothing. Long story. Inside joke," she says, smiling.

"Oooookay. Are you going to tell me what happened last night?" I ask.

"Well, let's see. Mat tried to put Preston in the pool, Rob had a breakdown because I told him he's white, aaaand I'm pretty sure you chugged most of a bottle of vodka." I laugh.

"That all?" I say.

"There's more, but you won't believe me."

"Try me," I say. She's making me anxious.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she replies, then sighs. "You tried to rape Ashley."

"What?!" I ask. That's impossible. I mean, I like her, but I would never try to force myself on someone. That can't have happened. I was drunk, sure, but that doesn't mean I was that far out of control. Right?

She pulls out her iPod and fiddles with it for a few seconds, then shows me the screen. I'm half-expecting to see another shirtless picture of Mat.

What's actually there is so much worse.

**A/N TIME! I BET YOU MISSED THIS: Hey guys! QD here with a semi-cliffhanger update. Sorry (kind of). Thank y'all so much for all of your support with the last chapter (does it count as two if it's in two parts? I don't know). You guys are seriously the best and I love each and every one of you beautiful indivduals so, so much. As far as the six-month project goes, the vote is currently tied between a livestream and one-shots. My current plan is to do one short companion story and still stream, if I can get that working. If the stream doesn't work, I'll make a YouTube video that has something to do with my story. Moving on, I don't think there's much point to doing a fact/fiction section for this chapter, so instead I'll just explain why there wasn't an author's note for the past chapter(s). obviously, a lot happened, and some pretty serious stuff went down on Lily's end. I would rather not explain how I came to that particular storyline. I also didn't want to interrupt the flow of action. Things will get better, I promise. I just can't promise another update for at least a week, and most likely even longer. In conclusion, thank you guys so much! Much luv and internet hugs!**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS - for those of you following ****Ancient Merome****, I will get to updating that as soon as I'm through the dramatic part (well, one of them) of this story.**

**PPS - don't forget to follow me on twitter! Username in my bio :)**


	31. What Are You Gonna Do?

CHAPTER THIRTY: What Are You Gonna Do?

I show him the picture I took of him on Ashley. I watch his face nervously. How he reacts to this will determine what kind of a person he really is. His expression goes from bewildered and doubtful to horrified in .02 seconds flat. I don't even hear him breathing. He's frozen in place, his eyes glued to the screen. I hold it up for a few more seconds, then take it back.

"Like I said," I say quietly, "You tried to rape Ashley." He sits back, rubbing his hand over his jaw.

"You–you walked in on that?" he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," I reply. "I pulled you off her right after."

"I…" he trails off.

"Ruined everything? Probably," I say. I want to be sympathetic, but it's just not in me.

"Did I do anything to you or the girlfriends?" he asks, looking at me. I look away, shifting in my spot on the floor. I'm not sure if I should tell him what he said last night.

"N-no," I say. "No, just Ashley." He looks at me more closely and I fidget uncomfortably.

"Why don't I believe you?" he asks.

"I–I, um…" I stutter, my mind racing to find an excuse.

"Lily. I need to know if I did something, because I'm not gonna remember."

"I–You may have said some things," I say, still avoiding his gaze.

"To you?"

"Yeah. When we were upstairs, after I pulled you off Ashley."  
>"What did I say?" he asks.<p>

"It's–it's nothing," I say. I don't want him to know what happened.

"Lily." He reaches out and puts his hand on my knee. I pull up the recording on my iPod and press play. His drunk, slurring words echo slightly off the tiled walls.

"_You're not as pretty. Or nice. Or pretty._" Our conversation plays out as his face falls farther and farther. I'm just now noticing how weak my voice sounded.

"_–Know what you did wrong. You don't get it. No one does!–_" I stop playing the tape, not wanting him to hear the rest.

"Was that the end?" he asks.

"You don't need to hear the rest," I say, looking him hard in the eyes.

"I can't believe I said those things to you," he says, moving over to me and placing his arms around me. I let him hug me briefly before scooting away.

"You apologized later," I say.

"I just… I… I can't believe I…" he trails off, staring at the wall.

"Neither could I," I say, "but there it is."

"I'm so sorry," he says.

"Good," I say. "I'm hungry."

"That's honestly what you're thinking about right now?" he asks.

"This conversation was making me uncomfortable so I stated a relevant fact."

"I mean, I'm hungry too, but you just told me some deep shit, dude."

"I'm not saying you're off the hook, but I'd rather talk about this when I'm not distracted by hunger," I say, standing up. I help him up and we go down to the kitchen. I fix us a couple sandwiches in silence and we sit on the counter, eating them without speaking.

-oO0Oo-

*MITCH'S POV*

Everyone comes back in while we're eating our sandwiches. Most of them are smiling, greeting Lily and I and laughing about things we did last night. Ashley comes in last. I accidentally catch her eyes but she looks away instantly. She practically runs away to the mattress that she and Lily share under the stairs. Lily goes out to talk with her as everyone slowly trickles off to somewhere. Mat stays behind.

"Dude, what happened to her? She barely talked at all while we were out," he says, looking in Ashley's direction.

"I–uh, I apparently tried to r-rape her," I say, looking at the floor.

"Dude, you shouldn't joke about that," Mat says, punching my arm.

"I'm not," I say, looking him in the eyes. He's dumbstruck.

"You actually tried to–holy shit, dude!" Mat says too loudly. I shush him.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" Mat whispers.

"I don't know," I whisper back. "I don't remember it."

"Then how do you know for sure?" he asks.

"Lily has a picture," I reply. "Can we not talk about this here, dude?"

"Yeah, yeah," he says. We go up to my room and I flop on the bed on my back while Mat sits down in my desk chair.

"So you actually–like, _rape-_raped her?" he asks.

"I tried, apparently," I say. "Lily wasn't too specific with the details."

"What was the picture?" he asks.

"It was of me on her and I wasn't wearing a shirt and I was almost grabbing her boob," I say in one breath, trying to get it all out as quickly and (hopefully) painlessly as possible.

"Shit, dude."

"Yeah." We're silent for a few moments.

"So what are you gonna do now?" he asks. I sigh, laying an arm over my eyes.

"I don't know, dude. I really fucked up big time."

"Yeah, no shit."

"I just–I can't believe I did that, y'know? I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the picture."

"I gotta see this pic, dude," he says.

"Ask Lily. She has it," I reply, my arm still over my eyes. I hear him get up and leave, shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later, I hear the door open again and someone flop down in the desk chair. There's a massive sigh, then Mat speaks.

"Holy shit, dude. You weren't kidding," he says.

"Yeah, no fucking shit," I reply, sitting up.

"What are you gonna do?" he asks.

"I told you, I don't know," I say. I move over to the edge of the bed and drop my feet on the floor. I slump over and put my head in my hands.

"I've never fucked up this bad," I say. I can hear my voice starting to shake.

"Yeah, dude, she could press charges," he says. I look at him, pissed.

"Dude, seriously? Not helping," I say. He shrugs.

God, what have I done?

**A/N TIME! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME: Hey y'all. QD here with an update (finally) for you all. I cannot apologize enough for the lateness of this chapter. My life decided to intervene, and I let you guys down. Every time I sat down to write this chapter (which was a lot, don't even get me started), I had complete and utter writer's block the likes of which I've never seen before. It was probably related to some personal stuff that I'm working through at the moment. I'm sorry that I've lost a lot of my motivation for this story, but I will see it through to the end. Hopefully I won't have this long of a break again, but with 4 AP classes I can't make any promises. Again, I am so, so sorry. I can't say that enough. That being said, thank you to everyone who remained supportive through this long break. The few positive reviews I got really made me feel so much better. Thank you to the people who understand that writer's block is a serious problem and that it's difficult to get chapters of a significant length up on a regular schedule. You guys were the calm in the storm, so thank you. Anyway, I don't think I can really do a fact/fiction section for this chapter so I'll just say sorry one more time and make my exit. Much luv [less than three]**

**-Quiet Defiance**

**PS– I changed my Twitter handle to QDefiance and the other one is now inactive.**


	32. My Apology

Hey guys. It's been awhile.

I am so, so sorry. This isn't how I wanted this to go. I wanted everything for this story, and it was getting so much better.

But I'm not the same person I was when I started this story 14 months and one week ago. Back then, I was lonely, and sad, and looking for a way to make my life bright again. Mitch's videos did that for me. Problem is, they don't anymore. Senior year has changed me a lot, and I'm so sorry you guys are the ones who got the worst end of the deal. I want to finish this story, but I can't. Not genuinely. And you guys deserve nothing less than the best. I wish I had words for how much I regret starting something that I can't finish, especially when you guys are depending on me.

Thank you all so much, those of you who've been here every step of the way and those who got to the end of the story only to find out I hadn't updated in six months. You have all done so much for me, and I hate that I am unable to repay you in kind. You guys were my light in a dark place, and often still are. Thank you to those special few who took the time to send me a PM over the last empty months. You guys especially touched my heart and I'm grateful, I truly am. Thank you, also, to those who have continued to review and to those who favorited and followed despite my absence. I love each and every one of you beautiful individuals, and I will always appreciate everything you've done for me.

Concerning the end of this story: there is an end. Problem is, we're only about halfway there. That's part of the reason that I am unable to continue; this is a damn long story. Thank you to those of you who offered to help write, but this is my story. It's my baby, and I couldn't bear to see it become someone else's. I'm really sorry. I know exactly where I wanted this story to go and how I wanted it to end, and I couldn't bear to see it go any other way. That being said, the least I can do is type up and publish a synopsis of the rest of the story. That way, even though you can't read the story itself, you can still have closure. I don't know when that will be up, but I will promise it won't take six months. And that's a promise I'll keep.

I hope the fandom is doing well. I haven't checked in since even before I updated last time, to be perfectly honest. I just don't connect with his content anymore. I wish I could, for y'all's sake, but my interests just don't lie in that field anymore. I wish I could apologize enough, but I don't regret giving up the person I was for who I've become today. I'm a lot happier, guys. I just wish my happiness didn't come at y'all's expense.

As for my future in writing, I don't know. Maybe someday I'll come back to fanfiction, maybe I won't. I'm currently writing a musical, and considering publishing it to my FicitonPress account, but who knows when and if that will be done. That's a completely different project anyway, and I mean COMPLETELY. I don't know where I'm going, but I hope I can take you guys for the ride. There's so much I don't know.

Just remember, I love you guys so much no matter what happens. I'm so sorry for doing this to you all, and only offering up a synopsis for what should be another 30 chapters. I appreciate everything you've given me, all the support you've shown over this past year or so. You guys have changed my life for so much better. There are no words for how much I love you and how sorry I am. You guys are my beautiful individuals, and never forget that you are precious.

So much luv,

Quiet Defiance

View count - 53,683. Holy crap, I love you guys.


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